15 Food Companies that Serve You ‘Wood’

On Nov. 29, 2011, we got a take-down notice. Be sure to read the full article by Miriam Reimer at TheStreet.com. Meanwhile, much thanks to Peter Combe at Stylembe who offered Food Freedom these original pieces that went nicely with the article:

and

Another special thanks to the Facebook users who made the article a major hit for us ~ for which we collected no funds.

432 responses to “15 Food Companies that Serve You ‘Wood’”

No real surprises here eh? Real food isn’t adulterated, it’s GROWN at home! Hard to do year round living in the Northeast. My 1st ever garden is doing well, next year I’m going to try to learn to preserve the harvest so I won’t starve in the winter months. REAL food is expensive in the stores, and won’t get any cheaper any time soon. Slow kill in the food, air & water is in the works…….obviously all in the name of $$

you are right on the money! They are also genetically changing food and they don’t have to label it, but you mostly see “modified” food starches- they make corn “round up ready” so they can spray a whole crop with round up and the corn survives… yuk! check it out here: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/

Thanks for the link, Patricia! It’s kinda funny (maybe sad though…) that I looked up this movie on Netflix and found out it had already been in my queue for quite some time! I really need to dwindle down my list of movies and not let good stuff like this sit for so long! FYI for anyone who is interested: this movie IS on Netflix (even just on the Instant Watch list, if that’s the only plan you have after their insane price hike!)

Yup. Most people get stirred up about GMO (genetically modified organisms) but are never told why they should be. The biggest offenders are corn and soy that are modified to be resistant to round up. This lets the grower spray the entire field with round up killing the weeds and leaving the corn or soy in tact. The plants still take up the round up so you can’t just wash it off. It is IN the corn/soy.

I was recently told that over 70% of our Coco Bean crops will be GMO by the end of the year…I have not verified the information or the source yet…But really that does it, now their messing with my Chocolate.

I agree that some foods are genetically modified and that making crops round-up ready is probably a bad idea, but don’t assume that all genetically modified foods are bad. crops have been modified to to contain necessary vitamins and minerals so they can be grown in areas of the world that suffer malnutrition. This modification would help prevent such problems as vitamin deficiencies that cause blindness.

Hi Weew,
That is a nice rosy picture; “World hunger being defeated by Monsanto’s GMO’s.” Monsanto would love for everyone to buy into that fluff, as it sells plenty of their dangerous products. But the truth does not match their sales pitch (see below).

In 1997, the University of Purdue found that transgenic soya varieties yielded on average 12-20% less than unmodified varieties grown at the same locations [3].
Research published in 1998 by the University of Arkansas and Cyanamid revealed reduced profit levels and lower yields for GM soya and cotton compared with unmodified varieties [3].
The University of Wisconsin found GM soya yields from the 1998 harvest lower than non-modified varieties in over 80% of cases in trials across nine US states [4].
In Iowa, a 1999 survey of reported an average RR-soybean yield reduction of 4% in over 365 fields [5].
A review of 40 trials of soya varieties in the north central region of the US by in 1999 found a mean 4% yield drag in RR soya [6].
In the UK, reports of crop trials from the National Institute of Agricultural Botany show yields from GM winter oilseed rape and sugar beet 5-8% less than high-yielding conventional varieties [7].

In summary, yield losses, not yield gains, are more commonly associated with transgenic crops compared to best available conventionally-bred cultivars and hybrids [8].

You might look at Eliot Coleman’s books. He’s a Maine gardener who specializes in non-heated and low-heated year round growing techniques. His books are excellent if you want to learn how to have more homegrown, fresh produce over the winter.Eliot Coleman Books

I was appalled to learn that wood pulp is also used as a filler in the US, with very little regulation. I read not long ago about the famines in North Korea (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/11/02/091102fa_fact_demick), and how even home cooks there would use wood pulp to extend their meals, but that this was so difficult for old people to digest that they died of it. Clearly, we’re not meant to eat wood pulp: it’s not highly toxic, but it is an adulterant. So why is it permitted in our food?

Yeah, but how much cinnamon is consumed and how much pulp is consumed? They are definitely not comparable. Cinnamon is not processed tree byproduct either. Yes, we need fiber but we can get it from sources we can and are supposed to actually digest.

Except the way they use cellulose is unnatural, overprocessed, and dishonest. Sprinkling a little cinnamon on your coffee is a little different than using cellulose to replace natural ingredients. Did you actually READ the article? Sheesh.

Exactly what I was thinking. It’s not just from wood. It’s from all plant materials. We eat plant materials when we eat fruits and vegetables. You don’t digest the material it just goes right through you…fiber. I personally prefer to eat REAL food but cellulose won’t kill you. Would you be shocked to know that they use cellulose in medications as well. It’s non-toxic and a non-irritant when ingested orally. It however can cause cancer if it’s injected or inhaled (because we can’t absorb it and it just sits in your veins and lungs causing irritation) hence the reason it is not used in injected medications and oral inhalation medications.

Are you too ignorant to understand the point? The problem is not just with what they are using, which it’s not guaranteed that it’s harmless, is they keep adding things to the food we all eat but they do not deem it important to actually tell anyone. It’s not their right to put whatever they want into food and call it whatever they want. Maybe, MAYBE, wood pulp isn’t so bad, do we know really ? Ethics, despite what the supercapitalism trends would indicate, are still important to many people in the public. I demand to know what I’m buying when I buy it so I can decide for my self if I want to ingest it. The whole, “it’s not bad, so what’s the harm?” is a bullsh!t side step.

If you were really that concerned about the ingredients in your food, you probably wouldn’t be eating any of the foods that are now being found to contain wood pulp. You’d probably be horrified to find out what’s in the packaged foods you’re eating. Be an informed consumer. Eat real food.

This was opposed decades ago by the National Farmers Organization, which was the leading family farm justice organization of the time. It was seen as another way of lowering farm prices. In a press conference, an NFO spokesman dramatized the issue by sawing slowly through a chunk of wood shaped like a loaf of bread. I may still have the article which included a photo of the dramatization.

Additionally, I can tell you from my personal experience, NFO is now just another pimp organization, a front for industrialized ag. They may have a former history (back in the ’60’s through perhaps the early ’90’s) of supporting ‘family farm agriculture’, but that history now only successfully conceals, the modern truth of their sell-out. All the old trusted names, eg., Rodale Institute, Center for Rural Affairs, etc., are all pretty much pimps for industry and part of the overall campaign for perception management and control, of a subservient and pacified general population.

Get this under your hat: We live in a technocratic, autocratic, ‘pseudo-scientific’ totalitarian dictatorship regulated completely by billionaires. Every established and large organization is a suspect and most likely guilty (of complicity). Every single fucking one.

Interesting, but your last part is a little over the top. With the help of conscientious writers like you, most Americans are educated enough to be able to understand the impact of this issue to our health and bodies, and should be able to choose which foods to purchase based on this knowledge. If enough people react against wood pulp being put into their food and stop buying it, food companies will stop producing it that way. As consumers, we hold CPG companies’ profits in our hands.

What amuses me is that the person who typically rails at this type of corporate evil is one who 1. Does not believe in evil, 2. Believes in Darwin’s Theorem, which would justly leave the wood-eaters in the realm they deserve.

Quit your bitching about the choices people make. We are all either free agents, or duped with cause. Be glad you “know better”, and will live to inherit the earth.

Really don’t think that devolution would make a micron of difference. I’m a member of a FAN (fluoride action network) in Windsor Ontario. Stopping the poisonous injection into our water supply would be as easy as the municipal council ‘just saying no’.
Here the power is within municipal control, but even here big industry calls the shots.
Council says, “I’m the boss of me!”
Yeah . . . right :o)

MOST Americans are educated enough?
Are you for real? In my opinion, most North Americans – and I doubt the results would be much different in other industrialized, so-called literate, countries – get their information from 30-second sound bites and 2-minute news broadcasts. Few read any amount. Fewer still actually act on what they learn; there are just too many other things influencing daily life. If it’s cheap and tastes good – ie. the kids like it, most often – then it will be in the shopping basket.
Stand in a store aisle and see how many folks read ingredient labels.
If enough people react? Give your head a shake.

True enough there. How many people who read this didn’t know that cellulose is simply plant fiber and that you can get cellulose from eating fresh produce and whole grain, too? Stick to the problem, which is wood pulp being used as a source of cellulose, instead of relying on pseudoscientific fear mongering that may result in people eschewing all healthy food out of fear of the dreaded cellulose.

You may be overestimating comparing apples to artificial plastic apples. A huge list of cellulose containing foods has been left out. Methylated Cellulose which is used in icecreams to burgers and yes Taco Bell. The product is made by modification.. Similar uhealthy food modifications include, hydrogenated veg oil, HFCS or corn syrup, soybean texture, etc. All of them started healthy but in some products they are broken down with acid, then neutraized with lie that was made using mercury then enzymes moleste the stuff into fructose that humans store as FAT. Methylated cellulose is different from eating unmolested vegtables. It’s like saying vegetable protien is good for humans? Vegtables are but vegetable protien….. , which protiens. Go understand some basic chemistry of methylating a substance or just go tell eveybody that formalhyde is good for you because it can make it from grain.

Your post is full of pseudo-scientific bs. Just a few examples from a single line:
“…in some products they are broken down with acid, then neutraized with lie that was made using mercury then enzymes moleste the stuff into fructose that humans store as FAT”
1- Lye is not made using mercury.
2- Nothing wrong with enzymes. Do you even know what an enzyme is?
3- Fructose: the sugar found in fruit. May or may not be stored as fat, just like (virtually) any other natural sugar.

BAHAHAHA Priscilla, you are an idiot. You obviously did not read any part of this article, and I’m really sure that you’re going to start reading food labels now, since you’re too lazy to even read the article telling you to look at food labels. People like you need to keep your mouth shut when intelligent people are talking. Go to tmz.com, I’m sure there will be many more pictures of nice, symmetrical people and many less words for you.

Then step down off your box and teach her! Priscilla, is taking the time to try to read and education herself. there are millions of people who don’t. Before you call someone an idiot, you need to step down from your superiority complex. shame on you for thinking you are not equal to us all.

Husker Lady, I’m with you. Alison should stop being so judgmental and try to be more encouraging to someone who is taking steps toward becoming more educated and aware regarding the foods that she is consuming. Most folks don’t care enough to even educate themselves.

Allison: Might want to change that name to “Rain Cloud” – SHAME ON YOU for berating Priscilla. People need to ask questions about their food because the more they know then, they too, can add their voices in protest to what the FDA, USDA, EPA, CDC et.al — DO TO OUR FOOD! We need people to learn and spread the word and Pricilla is taking a good step in questioning.

Alison Sunshine should change her name to Alison . I’m almost certain that you have left a long line of ‘friends’ with damaged self esteem from being bullied in high school. Shame on you for your nasty, belittling, messed up ways of relating to your fellow human being. We all have to live on this planet, and the more we can help eachother out, to make this a nicer place, the better off we will all be. Please go and give your head a good shake, lady!!!!

lmao you all need to chill out. She said “how do i find out which 15 companies do this?” that is the article. all i was saying was that she obviously did not read the article before leaving that comment. i’m not being judgmental, just making a statement.

Commercially prepared foods are sufficiently devoid of nutrition as it is.

This reminds me of the starving people in Haiti, eating mud burgers to ease their hunger pain. In this case though, people are spending money on fake food, without realizing it. At least the folks in Haiti knew that the mud wasn’t actually nourishing them.

I’m with Darlene, home-grown is the way to go. But if you can’t do that at least be aware and read all labels very carefully. We need to care a bit more about we are actually putting in our bodies. Miriam, thanks for sharing this information.

Reducing the nutritional value of food is one of the main reasons why there are so many overweight (70% of the population) and obese (35% of the population today. Does my statement confuse you as you thought that the less food or food value the more weight you lose? That is not how the body works, your body is aware of and monitors how much nutrition is coming in. Because our body has had a lot of experience with famine over its millions of years of evolution your body takes precautions against starvation. One precaution is to convert as much food into fat as possible if the body suspects that there may be a famine due to low nutritional value of the food being eaten. So eating the same Taco Bell foods that cause you to gain weight will now cause you to gain more weight because they reduced the food value even more, charming huh?

Certanly not K to S but if it is being used at the expense of nutrition then yes I am against that.

Think about how crazy some of this is K to S when at one end of the food processing they are removing the natural fiber and nutrition in their refinement processing. Then further down the line they are adding it back in in the form of wood fiber and synthetic vitamins (calling that Enriched).

Then the natural fiber and nutrition that was taken out of your food is given in the form of feed to what the food industry refers to as livestock. The whole thing is absolutely crazy and the only ones to benefit are the few people who make a huge profit at the expense of all of us.

Doc – I can support that from my own experience! After reading about and discussing nutrition with a naturopath, a chiropractor, and a certified nutritional counselor who specialized in macrobiotic nutrition, I decided to completely change my eating habits. I wasn’t a big fast food eater in the first place, but I did like to snack occasionally, and I did like to eat in “casual” restaurants. After learning about the effects of additives in today’s “foods,” I stopped eating all processed foods, and completely eliminated fast food and “chain” restaurant food. I only eat in locally owned restaurants where food is sourced locally and prepared on site, instead of shipped in mylar pouches to be warmed up when ordered. I switched to organics, cut out all foods with any type of nutritional enhancements, including “fiber.” I read labels and won’t purchase anything with MSG or one of the many fake names for it. Nor will I purchase anything with high fructose corn syrup or one of the newer names for it. I prepare most of my food from scratch. I switched to organic olive, nut (not soybean), or coconut oil for cooking and salad dressings. I do not drink sodas. I don’t use artificial sweeteners or artificial dairy products. I use food based vitamins and minerals (organic). I have found that I am actually less hungry, and I don’t have cravings for salty, sweet, or fatty snacks. I literally CAN’T eat them now. I try a bite or two and I feel ill. So now I reach for other things instead. I eat what I want to eat, and my body gets the nutrition it needs. And, over the course of the last year, I have dropped 32 pounds! I have not increased my exercise. The body wants real food. We just have to be smart enough to know the difference between a Twinkie and a carrot.

Absolute nonsense! The reason why these foods “make” you fat is because they don’t satisfy you, and you end up eating more. You can’t possibly make more fat out of something that you can’t digest (eg. cellulose) than out of something you can. Fats are synthesized in response to excess caloric intake. Less digestable material = less caloric intake. Think about it.

Cellulose is just plant fiber whether it comes from an apple or a tree – either way it is undigestible (that is just common sense). If you are that worried about it stop eating packaged crap. However, you will still ingest cellulose if you plan on eating any type of vegetable or fruit.

You may be overestimating comparing apples to artificial plastic apples. A huge list of cellulose containing foods has been left out. Methylated Cellulose which is used in icecreams to burgers and yes Taco Bell. The product is made by modification.. Similar uhealthy food modifications include, hydrogenated veg oil, HFCS or corn syrup, soybean texture, etc. All of them started healthy but in some products they are broken down with acid, then neutraized with lie that was made using mercury then enzymes moleste the stuff into fructose that humans store as FAT. Methylated cellulose is different from eating unmolested vegtables. It’s like saying vegetable protien is good for humans? Vegtables are but vegetable protien….. , which protiens. Go understand some basic chemistry of methylating a substance or just go tell eveybody that formalhyde is good for you because it can make it from grain. Another examplng Succrolos was real sugar before one molucule was replaced with chlorine molecule, it’s not good for anybody not even your 5 year old. You have beem duped………. Go back to school,

I am repeating some of this from another comment but I think it needs repeating.

Think about how crazy some of this is JS when at one end of the food processing they are removing the natural fiber and nutrition in their refinement processing. Then further down the line they are adding it back in in the form of wood fiber and synthetic vitamins (calling that Enriched).

Then the natural fiber and nutrition that was taken out of your food is given in the form of feed to what the food industry refers to as livestock.

The whole thing is absolutely crazy and the only ones to benefit are the few people who make a huge profit at the expense of all of us.

So what! That’s what processed food is. Nothing new here. These people are behaving as if they just discovered that some food companies make and sell junk food -GASP!!!
Keep on reading the labels all you sheeple out there, you’ll find much worse than plant fiber in your Twinkies.
Move along…

correct! Cellulose is a plant fiber, and it does contribute to our fiber consumption… not a big deal one would think. However, Cellulose is not JUST a plant fiber any longer! The biotech industry has stake their claim on cellulose and lignon. This could prove to be disastrous! Big biotech firms have already genetically engineered trees to contain “weak” lignon.. lignon is what helps trees get their water.. lignon is also a carbon sequesterer. The biotech smarties are also doing trials (as far as I know it hasent gone past trials, not 100% sure) of making trees able to sequester more carbon. Does anyone see the great folly here? All of the carbon stored in GE lignon altered fallen trees ( and more will fall becuz their lignon has been altered to be weak and water consumption is altered when you alter lignon) And all of the carbon stored in genetically carbon sequestering altered trees could very well lead to the forest floor becoming lifeless as it loses its ability to retain water and nutrients, and the amount of carbon would be greatly increased and many plants and animals would lose their habitats and further more seedling trees would not have viable places to take root.. why? becuz GE trees share their DNA with other other trees and this ridiculous technology seems to prefer capital gain over common sense!

Yes but there’s a big difference between naturally occurring cellulose, say from an apple, and food that has its natural fibers removed and fucking wood pulp cellulose being added artificially. We’re not supposed to eat wood fibers. Sure, our body doesn’t completely process fruit fibers, but at least those fibers work with the digestive system to keep it regular. Wood fiber was not meant for human consumption, at all. You can say fiber is fiber, but you’re being just as disingenuous as those High Fructose Corn Syrup propaganda commercials that say the body can’t tell the difference. Sugar is sugar. No, really, it’s not.

See the documentary film, FOOD, INC. It is enlightening and essential viewing for all. FOOD, INC was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. More information here:http://www.foodincmovie.com/

For information about chemicals in many products, including foods, see the Environmental Working Group’s website:http://www.ewg.org/

Researchers at the Environmental Working Group are dedicated to exposing threats to your health and the environment, and to finding solutions. http://www.ewg.org/

The shopping guide lists the various derivatives of each crop to be avoided, and even better, it lists hundreds of brand products in 22 food categories that are non-GMO, so if you’re still buying processed foods, at least you can easily select a brand that does not use genetically modified ingredients.

The Institute for Responsible Technology has also created a free iPhone application that is available in the iTunes store. You can find it by searching for ShopNoGMO in the applications.

You notice what the government is doing? They don’t stop making cigarettes. They don’t close the bars. All food is going through the roof and the reason has to be the price of fuel. So this means everything should increase, but the government is keeping beer at $3.50. They want you drunk and brainwashed eating processed junk. If you aren’t growing a garden you can’t afford to eat in the city.

Remove “The Government”; replace with “Giant Corporations”…confusing the issues, here. Yes, most politicians are bought, but the people at the root of the problem aren’t the elected officials but the huge billion-dollar-making companies with “personhood” but no concept of morality to match, as well as the complacent and ignorant everyman who sees these things happening and does nothing.

Mari, how can you really say that the corporations are the “root of the problem” ? Greed is human nature but i see the root or fundamental control being a government institution to police these corporations and act in OUR BEST INTEREST rather than the interests of the corporations and there earnings reports.

I would liken going after the corporations rather than the government to busting drug users rather than drug dealers if you’re attempting to clean up a scourge of drug abuse in a particular area.

Beyond that…. there really is no “right” or “wrong”, “good” or “bad”, those are labels we create to define our perception. Everything just “IS”. Sorry if i got too philosophical on this, but i felt it important. Lets just be thankful that we have this knowledge/insight and share it with others that are interested.

Excellent article by Miriam Reimer, good comments from well inform people. I hope you all can see now what a democracy or crazydemon government has done to its people and a establishing a republic form of government is so vital now.. Not only should the Federal Reserve System be done away with, but the FDA does not care about you or our children and it must be replace. I’ve been a vegetarian for over 20 years now and when I do buy food I read everything on the labels. Do not trust any markets or even farmers markets, do your research before you buy and know whom you are purchasing from as well. Agriculture is a key essential to life and we must begin to take back that responsibility and become self-sufficient on our own. We must seize the time and become proactive now with your life as well as on your job, Most of all, you must teach your children the basis of living a wholesome life now, so that they can carry on this legacy or perish. Remember, our children are the future and we must preserve it now for them.

I’ve eaten wood cellulose in the form of willow and birch bark. No problem. People should be more concerned with the trans fats and artificial sweeteners in the foods listed. If you need reasons to skip these companies’ products, those are the ones.

WHY DON’T YOU PEOPLE GET IT? WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT NATURALLY-OCCURRING CELLULOSE, HERE. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT NATURAL CELLULOSE IS IN EVERY LIVING THING. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WOOD BEING PUT IN OUR FOOD AND BEING CALLED CELLULOSE. THEY MAKE THIS “CELLULOSE” FROM WOOD PULP. I DO NOT WANT WOOD PULP IN MY BODY, AND I DON’T THINK YOU DO EITHER.

Oh please. Cellulose is not MADE from wood pulp, it is extracted from the wood pulp. It is a naturally occurring substance that is found in ALL plant forms. They are not adding wood pulp to food, they are adding pure cellulose that MAY be extracted from wood. The photo in this article is totally misleading and just a fear-mongering tactic. The photo shows wood pulp BEFORE processing it to extract the cellulose. What is in the photo is NOT approved for use in food.

After looking down that list of companies – you should not be eating their food anyway. It is pure junk as confirmed by this article. This is also why they dump so many free glutamate (MSG) products into the food. Companies can sell you food made from cheap products like cellulose. The excitotoxin MSG makes your brain think wood tastes good and is good for you. Neat trick. MSG wrecks havoc on your health as well. MSG is now marketed under many other names. The FDA allows any MSG that is less 99.9% to go unlabeled as such. Instead they call it hydrolyzed protein or autolyzed yeast. There are about 40 products they use to hide MSG now.

Emery, do you have a blog or do you write articles? I like your information as presented. I did not know all this stuff, but am aware now!! Just bought some syrup- Mrs Butterworths, and my sister exclaimed how good it was. I’m sure the MSG is doing its job. Doesn’t require refrigeration you know. Can you tell me about the fake sugars?? Stevia, Splenda, Aspartame, are they good or bad? Thanks!!

Deb, Sucralose (Splenda) and Aspartame (Sweet-n-Lo) are lab-created sweeteners which are not harmful in moderation but which have been linked to tumour development in high concentrations in laboratory studies. (e.g. The mice who developed tumours were injected with a quantity of aspartame every day that was a significantly higher proportion of their body-weight than most human beings consume in a lifetime.) The potential for harm dropped off dramatically with even slight reductions. It is unlikely that any human being has developed cancer from over-consumption of aspartame.

Stevia, on the other hand, is actually an herb. My mom has it growing in her garden, and after I mow the lawn I like to chew a leaf or two as a treat. It is not carcinogenic, nor is it linked to any known health issue. It is a very nice plant.

Let’s get one thing absolutely clear. Asparatame (NutraSweet) ans saccharin (Sweet n’ Low) are NOT the same thing. Not trying be mean, but saccharin is something my body can tolerate (ignoring any carcinogens) and asparatame, I get migraines from and will not consume in any quantity.

MSG is absolutely not dangerous. All studies calling it harmful to health have been debunked by newer studies. MSG is not a toxin, it’s sodium, which the body needs, and glutamic acid, which is an amino acid that the human body already produces, and it’s found in EVERY food with protein in it. Also, cellulose is a naturally occurring fiber in just about every vegetable and fruit. It’s also known as “insoluble fiber,” also necessary for humans. I’m not saying it’s a good business practice to use it as an extender, but to insist it’s not healthy and dangerous is silly.

Josh, you are correct about the fiber. But you are only half right about the MSG. For most people, small amounts of MSG are perfectly safe. For others, like me, it is a migraine trigger and/or an asthma trigger.

It may not be dangerous, but for me it is a full day head ache. I have asked they not put in the MSG but I have found that some foods are already prepared , and it only take less than an hour to know this. I am beginning to see that I need to avoid many foods I have been taking a protein shake that makes me sick , and now wonder if the problem is MSG.

Many things are found in nature. For instance, digitalis is found in nature, but it can kill you. Then again in very small doses it can be used as a heart medication. While MSG may be found in nature, that’s no guarantee that it’s good for you. Sure, there may be some occurring naturally in foods but in processed foods they add tons of it. More than is healthy for human consumption, hence the reactions like headaches, and for some of us nausea and vomiting, not to mention bowel problems. You can be a stooge for corporate America if you want, idiocy isn’t illegal, unfortunately, but don’t call people relating real problems with MSG or anything else artificial because you arent them and you have no idea how it effects individuals. All those studies you may read on how safe all this shit is, let me ask you, do you KNOW who they’re affiliated with and do you know their motives? Are the studies accurate, or have they been slanted? What was the motive for the study and who funded it? Just because something is labeled scientific and unbiased doesn’t make it true. Use some critical thinking, or shut the fuck up.

Corporations have bought and paid for All Politicians and Lobbyists to the degree that nothing usefull ever gets done. Republicans want less regulations so that Corporations can get away with doing bad things. ie.. poluting Our Air, Water, and Food supply. Why do you think that the FDA approved frozen PIZZA as a vegitable?

I agree that all that food that was listed is stuff you shouldn’t eat anyways,along with 99.5 % of what is in a regular grocery store. grow your own veggies and shop at natural food stores and farmers markets. still read labels as some natural food stores like whole foods are really a pseudo heath food store. and if you cant pronounce it don’t eat it, a long with there shouldn’t be 20 + ingredients in anything. remember when your mom made bread? flour, water,yeast and salt. return to the simple things.

I just bought some Vitamin B 12 today and scanned the ingredients …. it has
microcrystalline cellulose listed as the 2nd ingredient! Glad I read your article today and found your very informative web-site. Are there specific brands of vitamins that don’t contain wood filler?

While I see that “Doctor” Blake responded to you below, it really is sad that he ignored the basis of your question. In truth, he is just shilling his products at you while leaving you blissfully ignorant of the fact that the specific item you objected to in your vitamin, cellulose, is *also* used in his products. The simple fact of the matter is that, whether your vitamin is made from whole foods or processed ingredients, if it is going to be in pill or caplet form, it *must* use a binder. The two most common binders are cellulose and clay. Both are considered inert in that they aren’t digested and pass through your body without affecting the action of the active ingredients. But, if he had just told you that your vitamin supplement needs cellulose to remain a pill instead of crumbling in your hand or even before it comes out of the bottle, then he would have missed the opportunity to plug his own product.

You are correct gdledford, I totally misread what E Beck and Rady were talking about my mistake but I do not see it as sad. Though I made a mistake I never said that there is anything wrong with cellulose and I never claimed that Whole Food supplements don’t use them as a binder.

As far as shilling, E Beck was looking for brands and so I dropped in a whole food brand I sell in my response though I made a mistake about what E Beck was referring to. Also if you read all the way through what I said you will notice that I said, “And ideally that is where you get all your nutritional needs but if you are unsure and feel you need a supplement “Whole Food” is what you need not a synthetic.” As yes, there are other whole food brands of vitamin supplements on the market.

What I find interesting gdledford and sad, is that yes I did make a mistake but you went on and on about my mistake. While totally passing on the opportunity to acknowledge that what I was saying is very worthwhile information about food which is what the article is about. Information that everyone should be aware of that there is a big difference between whole food and synthetic supplements.

“You are correct gdledford, I totally misread what E Beck and Rady were talking about my mistake but I do not see it as sad. Though I made a mistake I never said that there is anything wrong with cellulose and I never claimed that Whole Food supplements don’t use them as a binder.”

Let’s make the chain of events clear: Original poster posts about how bad wood pulp cellulose is in food, E Beck posts “OMG! My vitamin supplement has cellulose in it! What can I get that doesn’t”, you post “Synthetic supplements are bad, get whole supplements, here’s mine”, but you don’t tell her that yours has cellulose too as a binder. Her hysteria over her vitamin was not over synthetic vs. natural, it was over cellulose. You know that cellulose as a binder is typical and you use it yourself. Instead of correcting her mistaken hysteria over something that’s totally normal and fine, you use the opportunity to capitalize on her hysteria for your own gain. That’s what’s sad.

“What I find interesting gdledford and sad, is that yes I did make a mistake but you went on and on about my mistake.”

I tend to read all the comments before I decide to make any myself. I had read all of yours before ever writing my first reply. I had also checked out your site, read your bio, checked up on Trinity, and investigated your arthritis medicine before making my first response. By that time, you weren’t going to get off easy. And I didn’t go on and on, just a little education is all. You haven’t begun to see going “on and on”.

“While totally passing on the opportunity to acknowledge that what I was saying is very worthwhile information about food which is what the article is about. Information that everyone should be aware of that there is a big difference between whole food and synthetic supplements.”

What you are saying has a grain of truth to it, which is why it’s also the hardest type of fallacy to address. I *was* going to let it lie, but since you bring it up again, the whole truth is better than an over simplification.

There are some vitamins or minerals that absorb better in the presence of other compounds. A good example is calcium, which absorbs better in the presence of vitamin D (hence why you almost never see a calcium supplement that doesn’t also have vitamin D). Where these types of dependencies are unknown, a whole food supplement is likely to work better than a synthetic. For the common vitamins, we already know about the various dependencies and so it’s rare that whole food is significantly better than synthetic, at least for the common vitamins and minerals.

There are other types of supplements though. Such as condroitin, where the name does not refer to a single chemical structure. Like cellulose, there are a wide range of chemical compounds that fall into the condroitin family. If you were to compare synthetically produced condroitin to naturally occurring condroitin, you would find that the synthetic stuff is typically only one or a few dominant varieties, where as the natural stuff will contain a much wider variety of the possibilities. In that case, the whole food version is almost always going to be better than the synthetic.

But your blanket statement that nothing synthetic can be absorbed or used by the body is patently false. Whether whole food or synthetic is better must be evaluated on a case by case basis.

gdledford
Let’s make the chain of events clear: Original poster posts about how bad wood pulp cellulose is in food, E Beck posts “OMG! My vitamin supplement has cellulose in it! What can I get that doesn’t”, you post “Synthetic supplements are bad, get whole supplements, here’s mine”, but you don’t tell her that yours has cellulose too as a binder. Her hysteria over her vitamin was not over synthetic vs. natural, it was over cellulose. You know that cellulose as a binder is typical and you use it yourself. Instead of correcting her mistaken hysteria over something that’s totally normal and fine, you use the opportunity to capitalize on her hysteria for your own gain. That’s what’s sad.

Me
If you look at my line of thinking through the comments I was making before you corrected me gdledford. You will see that they all referred more or less to what had been done to food then about adding wood fiber to it. Because I feel that the same thing has been done to supplements except very few people realize this fact.

So when I read what E Beck and Rady were talking about I misread what they were saying and probably in my eagerness subconsciously added my own thoughts to it. I saw a chance to strike one for whole food supplements and since they said “brands” I added Doctors Research. I was not thinking at all about the binders used in supplements in fact when you brought it up I went to Doctors Research to check on it and it is not mentioned as far as I could see.

If you check with Rady on this she will probably say she was surprised by what I said because this is her site and I have been making comments here for quite some time and I rarely talk about my own products.

You
“While totally passing on the opportunity to acknowledge that what I was saying is very worthwhile information about food which is what the article is about. Information that everyone should be aware of that there is a big difference between whole food and synthetic supplements.”
What you are saying has a grain of truth to it, which is why it’s also the hardest type of fallacy to address. I *was* going to let it lie, but since you bring it up again, the whole truth is better than an over simplification.

You
I tend to read all the comments before I decide to make any myself. I had read all of yours before ever writing my first reply. I had also checked out your site, read your bio, checked up on Trinity, and investigated your arthritis medicine before making my first response. By that time, you weren’t going to get off easy. And I didn’t go on and on, just a little education is all. You haven’t begun to see going “on and on”.

Me
Here I do not like your tone gdledford, you sound threatening and a bit off balance and I do not like it. You may have read my bio and you have seen my site but believe me you know nothing about me, Dave?

Hi E and Rady, Whole Food are what you are looking for and the top brand that I am aware of is Doctor’s Research and we are talking Naturopathic Doctors.

Getting to the truth about vitamins is opening a major can of toxic worms. When you know what is in more than 95% of the vitamins on the market you find that wood fiber is the least noxious possibility. Below are just a few of the ingredients you will find in your average multivitamin typically made by pharmaceutical companies. And I do not care how much you paid or how pretty the label is or how high the recommendation from a doctor. Unless that label says “Made From Whole Foods” or something on that order saying “Whole Food” (Not Food Based) below is just a sample of what you are getting.

And I am sure that there is some scientist type saying that when the chemical process is finished you now have exactly the same vitamin or mineral. Yes, you may end up with something similar kind of like a Frankenstein Monster. But when it comes to absorbing and utilizing vitamins and minerals humans cannot properly digest anything that has not gone through a living plant first. And ideally that is where you get all your nutritional needs but if you are unsure and feel you need a supplement “Whole Food” is what you need not a synthetic.

Note that although regulated by the FDA and manufactured by pharmaceutical companies, the criteria for vitamin production is equivalent to that of foods. I’m not aware of a product that is manufactured to the pharmaceutical standard.

It is not the “criteria for vitamin production” that I am referring to DSF. It is the simple fact that you cannot create food in a laboratory that is digestible. We depend on plants to create the nutrition we need the vitamins, mineral, carbs, proteins to survive, without them we are dead.

Vitamin companies creating synthetic and mined vitamins and minerals are selling them to the public as though they are a food that we can really utilize, that is nonsense. Those types of supplements have never been near a plant but the government ok’s them because they fit the criteria for vitamin production. But that is meaningless unless your body can absorb synthetic chemicals and minerals mined from the ground?

Simple put DSF; we cannot eat a spoonful of dirt as though it was food, a plant created by nature must do that work for us.

While you’re at it, you should also acknowledge the fact that the title “Doctor” and the suffix N.D. were not attained at any accredited educational institution, that you are not a medical doctor in any sense of the word, that you have no Ph.D., that anyone with $3200 and a few hours to study at home can get the same “Doctor” and “N.D.” certificate that you have. Indeed, your own Bio says you gave *yourself* an honary degree of Professorship of Science in Herbal Botanicals through Gordon University based upon the classes and certifications you took elsewhere.

What makes me the sickest about what you are doing is that some of the things you have to say are correct (although often not for the reasons you list). For those of us that understand the true shortcomings of science as it relates to vitamin or supplement or drug therapies as put forth by pharmaceutical companies, your incorrect conclusions and erroneous premises make it harder to educate people on the truth. The fact that you also pretend to be something that you aren’t only exacerbates the problem (for the sake of completeness, I refer to your use of the title Doctor, where most people expect that title to only be conferred upon a medical physician or a Ph.D. graduate, neither of which you are, so even if Trinity College of Natural Health says the program is a Doctorate program, they are conferring a title that has no accreditation and so few hours of education that it’s obvious the title is nothing more than wishful thinking and that they have no business conferring that title to *anyone* based upon their educational requirements, and that doing so is being intentionally misleading in regards to what the general public expects that title to actually mean in terms of your education).

Trying to turn the spot light on me and off of your beloved allopathic medicine gdledford? Yes, you want to keep people in line, wouldn’t want them to question the “All Mighty Medical Doctors”.

My doctorate:
Trinity is a member of the Christian Health Fellowship. Trinity School is accredited and recognized by the American Naturopathic Medical Accreditation Board (ANMAB) in Las Vegas, Nevada (www.anmab.org). We have not, nor do we plan to seek accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education.

Trinity has been turning out Doctors of Naturopathic medicine for over twenty year’s gdledford. Where are all the injuries, deaths and law suites caused by these Naturopathic Doctors with their as you say “the title is nothing more than wishful thinking”, where are the numbers? They have thousands of graduates (have a look everyone and find one near you http://www.trinityschool.org/) it would stand to reason gdledford, that if they are treating people with wishful thinking that there must be a maltreatment disaster somewhere, huh gdledford? I guess we need a degree in malpractice from one of those schools you are referring to gdledford, that must be the missing hours of study you are talking about that we need so we can speak nonsense, give out deadly drugs?

You think studying at home is easy gdledford?
Try studying for a doctorate at home in your senior years while holding down a full time job and juggling life’s common stresses. Believe me you appreciate a schedule a classroom and a teacher. At home you are it, you set the schedule, your home with it distractions is the classroom and you are the teacher. The teacher who just got home from work with the attitude, “I would rather sit down with a beer and TV than the books”, that’s reality gdledford, try it sometime.

The PhD that I gave myself:
Of course gdledford conveniently left out the reason I gave myself a PhD:
What gdledford left out folks: I did this in response to some unjustified laws in California and the USA. There gdledford now what you said is the full truh.

I’m turning the spotlight on the fact that you don’t have the legal right to use the term Doctor as a prefix. You do not have an accredited degree recognized in the US. I presume the “unjust laws in the state of CA and the USA” are the laws that require your degree before accredited before you can use that title.

Although people really shouldn’t assume that just because someone has a title, they automatically know what they are talking about, they do anyway. I’m just trying to head off the possibility that people will take your comments as fact on the basis of your title instead of actually evaluating the truth of them on their own merits.

That title really doesn’t mean anything, I was a doctor long before I even started at Trinity. But some people feel it is important that the person they are talking to have a title. So in order to help those people I went ahead put in the work and study and legitimately earned the title Naturopathic Doctor.

Of course you only think that a Medical Doctor who has been allopathically trained deserves the title doctor, well that is your opinion gdledford. The world of health is changing whether you like it or not and the M.D. that means a lot less today will mean even less in the future.

One of the main establishments that this site “Food Freedom” is opposing is the FDA. This is because the FDA has done such a corrupt job of protecting us from poisonous medications and food additives. At the same time the FDA is doing their best to stamp out herbs, whole foods, food supplements, health businesses and small farmers. The irony here gdledford is that the FDA is run and controlled by highly educated degreed doctors who are sworn to do no harm and to protect our health. And yet here they are doing their best to poison and kill us with medicines and food additives. While at the same time suppressing the free speech of someone who is telling the truth about foods, herbs and supplements. I think what we need to do is start taking back those MD degrees you cherish so much gdledford because it is obvious that they do not mean much to those doctors at the FDA, maybe you would like one huh gdledford?

Gdledford: you are wise, rational and direct. I applaud your comments. The title doctor implies accredited education in this country. It is not something that one can confer on oneself. Anyone who thinks similar education can be attained by a few semesters worth of home study, needs to spend one semester at an accredited medical school (MD or DO) in this country to reevaluate their views on medical education. The students at such facilities sacrifice so much to do what they are doing. And the course work is some of the most arduous in any educational program in this country. As far as the lack of malpractice suits against naturopathic “doctors,” the “ND” poster is correct. There are none. Not because they have not potentially caused harm. But because since the government does not recognize naturopaths as physicians, they can not be sued for malpractice. I, however, have seen gross harm done by select naturopaths that has single handedly contributed to harm, suffering and in some instances death of their clients. Heartache that real doctors had to attempt to clean up once things were oftentimes too late. These were people who were dupped by pseudoscientific babble and claims that “natural” is always better than “mainstream poisonous medicine.” That doctors only wanted their money. No one ever talks about how the “caring natural health” industry takes in billions of dollars based on piss poor research, hearsay and sometimes dangerous regimens. Because it’s “natural,” no one questions their monetary gain.

And to the “ND”, the issue is not that some people feel more comfortable talking to someone with a title. It is a legal issue plain and simple. If you do not graduate from an accredited doctorate level program (whether that be a doctorate in allopathic or osteopathic medicine, English literature, or even with a doctorate in analyzing fish poo like one phd I know), you can not legally use the title doctor. Period! In this country, doctor is a legal title. Not a feeling.

me
Wow, did I just hear a turkey let out a great big “squawk” because you have just laid a very nice egg here, thank you so very much?

you
in response to a comment by gdledford:
I’m turning the spotlight on the fact that you don’t have the legal right to use the term Doctor as a prefix. You do not have an accredited degree recognized in the US. I presume the “unjust laws in the state of CA and the USA” are the laws that require your degree before accredited […]

Me (I love a spotlight)
Tell me something do you make this up as you go and then hope for the best? Gad, I feel like I am analyzing fish poo? That is no way to treat a degreed naturopathic doctor I hope you know?

Oh, I am so sorry, but I earned that N.D. degree long before the unjust law was passed in Ca and my school was recognized by the United States Department of Education at that time also. Furthermore, 16 states fully recognize the Naturopathic Doctor title and insurance companies now pay for their treatments in the USA. You need to spend just a little more time digging up your facts before you try smearing someone, sorry to disappoint you.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Naturopathic_Medicine

you
Gdledford: you are wise, rational and direct. I applaud your comments. The title doctor implies accredited education in this country. It is not something that one can confer on oneself. Anyone who thinks similar education can be attained by a few semesters worth of home study, needs to spend one semester at an accredited medical school (MD or DO) in this country to reevaluate their views on medical education. The students at such facilities sacrifice so much to do what they are doing. And the course work is some of the most arduous in any educational program in this country.

me
Yes this is very sad I agree, here are the medical students spending all that time and sacrifice as you say getting pumped up into believing that they are superior and part of an elitist medical heritage. But when these doctors to get into the real world they find that when you treat the natural with unnatural poisonous drugs that the patient never recovers. Their disease continues needing a life time of treatment and now they also suffer side effects which lead to another incurable disease and more worthless treatment. “I have seen many clients like this, the worst was on 19 different medications for 6 different incurable diseases.”

This is the very reason why we are moving toward Obama Care because the cost of this incurable disease sink hole can no longer be financially supported and managed. So who is coming to the rescue, naturopathic doctors just like me. And the first thing I would recommend in your case is a very high series of colonics.

you and poo
As far as the lack of malpractice suits against naturopathic “doctors,” the “ND” poster is correct. There are none. Not because they have not potentially caused harm. But because since the government does not recognize naturopaths as physicians, they can not be sued for malpractice. I, however, have seen gross harm done by select naturopaths that has single handedly contributed to harm, suffering and in some instances death of their clients. Heartache that real doctors had to attempt to clean up once things were oftentimes too late. These were people who were dupped by pseudoscientific babble and claims that “natural” is always better than “mainstream poisonous medicine.” That doctors only wanted their money. No one ever talks about how the “caring natural health” industry takes in billions of dollars based on piss poor research, hearsay and sometimes dangerous regimens. Because it’s “natural,” no one questions their monetary gain.

me
Let me help you here, the charge is called “practicing medicine without a license” and the defendant can be imprisoned and sued? Now I tried to find all those numbers of arrests that go with all the suffering, death and drama you are using here but no numbers? I did find one spa owner in Ca charged with this law for treating nail fungus in July, 2011, will that help?
Medical Board of California: http://www.mbc.ca.gov/board/…/releases_2011_07-12_silberman

you and your final poo
And to the “ND”, the issue is not that some people feel more comfortable talking to someone with a title. It is a legal issue plain and simple. If you do not graduate from an accredited doctorate level program (whether that be a doctorate in allopathic or osteopathic medicine, English literature, or even with a doctorate in analyzing fish poo like one phd I know), you can not legally use the title doctor. Period! In this country, doctor is a legal title. Not a feeling.

me
Of course the drug patient process has nothing to do with the side effects every one is suffering from nor all the billions of dollars being over changed for something that even though scientific is a complete failure.

Ok, you will never believe me and my N.D. feelings of course but how about one of your preeminent Medical Doctors and a Nobel Prize winner as well, Dr. Luc Montagnier. Here is the highly esteemed doctor discussing how the AIDS/HIV epidemic could be brought under control in Africa and how the disease can be cured simply by using Naturopathic Medicine.

Reason commented on 15 Food Companies that Serve You ‘Wood’.
in response to a comment by gdledford:
I’m turning the spotlight on the fact that you don’t have the legal right to use the term Doctor as a prefix. You do not have an accredited degree recognized in the US. I presume the “unjust laws in the state of CA and the USA” are the laws that require your degree before accredited […]
Gdledford: you are wise, rational and direct. I applaud your comments. The title doctor implies accredited education in this country. It is not something that one can confer on oneself. Anyone who thinks similar education can be attained by a few semesters worth of home study, needs to spend one semester at an accredited medical school (MD or DO) in this country to reevaluate their views on medical education. The students at such facilities sacrifice so much to do what they are doing. And the course work is some of the most arduous in any educational program in this country. As far as the lack of malpractice suits against naturopathic “doctors,” the “ND” poster is correct. There are none. Not because they have not potentially caused harm. But because since the government does not recognize naturopaths as physicians, they can not be sued for malpractice. I, however, have seen gross harm done by select naturopaths that has single handedly contributed to harm, suffering and in some instances death of their clients. Heartache that real doctors had to attempt to clean up once things were oftentimes too late. These were people who were dupped by pseudoscientific babble and claims that “natural” is always better than “mainstream poisonous medicine.” That doctors only wanted their money. No one ever talks about how the “caring natural health” industry takes in billions of dollars based on piss poor research, hearsay and sometimes dangerous regimens. Because it’s “natural,” no one questions their monetary gain.
And to the “ND”, the issue is not that some people feel more comfortable talking to someone with a title. It is a legal issue plain and simple. If you do not graduate from an accredited doctorate level program (whether that be a doctorate in allopathic or osteopathic medicine, English literature, or even with a doctorate in analyzing fish poo like one phd I know), you can not legally use the title doctor. Period! In this country, doctor is a legal title. Not a feeling.
Reply See all comments in this post

Why? Cellulose is also known as dietary fiber, And it’s a necessary part of maintaining good digestive system health. It also helps protect against colon cancer. Cellulose added to food is GOOD for you. Not bad. This article is irresponsible. The companies adding cellulose to the food products in the list are actually doing you a favor by trying to help you get enough dietary fiber, which is something most people don’t get enough of.

You cannot believe yourself. ADM even chages the name the prouct from tiime o time. Methlyated cellulose, cellulose, methocel,to whaever. Humans don’t absorb mercury it needs to be methyl mecury. I don’t cosume either form but you would say that a drug company put mercury in vacines because it’s good for you. Is being irrated at the airport good or you?

This article seems to presuppose the conclusion that cellulose is unhealthful and should not be added to our foods, but never presents any argument or data to support that assumption. Furthermore, there is a sort of implication that just because something is used in detergent or brake pads it must be unhealthful, which is neither true nor compelling–if I tell you that there is water in your detergent, does that make the water in your tomato bad? Nor does something being indigestible necessarily make it unhealthful. So, in essence, this article says very little–merely that there is plant matter added to some foods…

Pantheraleo & rsonn make exceptional points about this article’s lack of substantiation of why this is bad for us. The first question I asked myself when this was forwarded to me is why is the word “wood” in quotes? The answer? It’s because they are not actually feeding you wood, they are removing fat from foods and replacing it with a binding ingredient that aids in digestion and is found in a third of all plant matter on our planet. This article is incredibly irresponsible for telling all the sheep that these foods are bad for them. The next article should be about dihydrogen monoxide which is found in countless foods approved by the FDA. Some quick facts on that chemical:

1. It’s a major component of acid rain
2. It contributes to the greenhouse effect
3. It can cause severe burns
4. It accelerates the corrosion of many metals
5. It is found in the tumors of terminal cancer patients
6. “Overdose” can lead to excessive sweating, urination, nausea, vomiting, and even death

I mean, how much longer can the government allow companies and even mother nature herself to poison us with H2O?

What’s funny about it nedlud? Every word of it is true. Cellulose is dietary fiber. It’s critical for proper digestive system function and helping to prevent colon cancer. Cellulose added to food really is good for you. Fiber One muffins for example…. Where do you think the “Fiber” part of it comes from? It comes from the cellulose.

Did you read the article? Did you get the implications? Maybe you can wrap your dim head around this: Let’s say I owe you 100 bucks but I decide to pay you 70% in legal government tender and 30% of it in play money. You complain, but I say that it is perfectly legal and legit because paper is paper and numbers are numbers and besides, I have this big pal with big strong muscles who will ‘bop you’ if you bother me again….

rsonn is right. Dietary fiber is not digestible by humans. Butt it is critical to your diet. Any dietician or nutritionist will tell you that. Most people don’t get enough fiber in their diets. And again, that’s what cellulose is. Dietary fiber.

Yes but there is a difference between wood cellulose and plant cellulose. The cellulose added to these foods is wood cellulose, and while dietary fiber is not processed by the body, it is natural and is supposed to be used by the body in other ways. Wood cellulose is not. Wood fiber is not plant fiber. Just because plants and trees are both flora does not mean they’re the same structurally!

Ok Ok Ok so we can’t stop them from putting wood in our food even if it is added dietary fiber, good or bad….but, my main question is…..

Why is the food costing more since it is diluted with wood?!!

That’s the REAL QUESTION!
It seems to me the profit margin on preprocessed foods might be doing some underhanded deals with the wood suppliers and maybe even some food administration elites are getting their backs scratched too along the way.
They all get bigger profits while we eat wood and pay for it like it is real food at a premium cost.

Val,
A company does not add methylcellulose to food for health benefit. Go eat vegtables for fiber. Methocell is just an extender and filler that can have properties to fool you into thinking that burger with 30 percent fat was good in taste and texture. No other value.

@Val, First of all, cellulose isn’t used to “dilute” food. It’s typically used either to add fiber (a necessary dietary ingredient), or as an anti-caking agent to prevent certain types of powered / shredded food from sticking together in clumps (cellulose powder is commonly used in grated and shredded cheese for example to prevent clumping). Second, what makes you think the cellulose is what is responsible for food price increases. Cellulose has been being used as a food additive for years. There are a few things that are driving up the cost of food, but cellulose is not one of them. They are:

* The increasing cost of fuel, which raises transportation costs.

* The increasing price of corn, driven by demand for ethanol. This one is great for farmers, who can make more money selling their corn. But the rest of us pay more for any products that contain corn.

* The increasing price of dairy products, which is driven by the increasing price of feed corn. Since corn is usually an important part of dairy cattle feed.

Those are the three main reason food prices are going up. Cellulose doesn’t have anything to do with it.

I don’t see what the problem is. The image at the top of the page is a handful of recycled paper pulp–it has ink in it. That is not food, and it has never been approved by the FDA. We eat a lot of wood or woody materials every day: they’re called vegetables. I could create the same stir by waving my hands and shouting “OMG corporate tools are putting GRASS in your food and it’s EVERYWHERE!!11!!” and I wouldn’t be lying or saying anything remarkable: wheat, oats, rice and corn are all grasses. Poppyseeds come from an opiate. Mushrooms grow in poop.

More specifically, has anyone tried hearts of palm in a salad? They’re wonderful–crisp and delicate, with a mild, pleasant flavour. They’re also plainly and unapologetically wood.

I like the responses of those who say that dietary fiber is necessary for healthy digestion; you actually don’t need any dietary fiber, it’s just what has been engraved into your mind.

There are many cultures who eat mostly meat and goat milk, and have little to no dietary fiber. The fat is what helps bring out the waste if you will.

I for one don’t need them giving me wood pulp and telling me what I need and how much of it. If you look around, their recommendations haven’t really done so well as America contains some of the most unhealthy people in the world who are preserved to live a long life of very low quality in this terrible health.

> There are many cultures who eat mostly meat and
> goat milk, and have little to no dietary fiber.

And the average life expectancy in these cultures is around 40. So I rest my case.

You should be more worried about Dihydrogen Monoxide. Which is in virtually every food you eat and everything you drink. In large quantities, it it can be fatal because it causes swelling of the brain by disrupting sodium absorption. Inhaling it can also be deadly. Accidental inhalation of it kills hundreds of people people every year, particularly children. And yes, believe it or not, the FDA allows it as a food additive.

I personally love Dihydrogen Monoxide. Couldn’t live without it. What’s really cool is it’s the number one greenhouse gas too!
And, you are correct on the fiber deal. Insoluble fiber is much needed by all of us to keep our bums cleaned out. Cellulose is plant material. We’ve all been eating it for years . It’s real and it’s good. YUM!

@pantheraleo – One major flaw in your argument. If something is undigestible, your body isn’t benefiting from it. Your body isn’t absorbing anything good or bad from it so it just becomes a filler in a food product.

@chefswite, That’s not true. toxins in your digestive system bind to cellulose, and the cellulose helps remove them from your system. Again, cellulose has been shown by multiple studies to help prevent colon cancer, and to be necessary for good digestive system health.

Anyone else still believe these genocidal maniacs are interested in your good health? It’s time to get every American in the country to file a suit for the disbandment of the FDA, pharma and factory farm whores.

There’s nothing wrong with consuming cellulose, it just shouldn’t come from wood pulp. Eat more fresh, raw vegetables, people. That kind of cellulose (which of course is the substance that plants’ cell walls are made of, if we all remember sophomore Biology) is what we need in our diets. This article may come off as purveying scare-tactics, but the spirit is good– eat real food (enough of the right kinds, please, including cellulose-heavy veg and whole grains), and don’t eat processed crap. That’s all.

“Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula (C6H10O5)n, a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β(1→4) linked D-glucose units.[2][3]

Cellulose is the structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth. About 33% of all plant matter is cellulose (the cellulose content of cotton is 90% and that of wood is 40–50%).[4][5]

For industrial use, cellulose is mainly obtained from wood pulp and cotton. It is mainly used to produce paperboard and paper; to a smaller extent it is converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Converting cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is under investigation as an alternative fuel source.

Some animals, particularly ruminants and termites, can digest cellulose with the help of symbiotic micro-organisms that live in their guts. Humans can digest cellulose to some extent,[6][7] however it is often referred to as ‘dietary fiber’ or ‘roughage’ (e.g. outer shell of maize) and acts as a hydrophilic bulking agent for feces.”

In other words, we need cellulose, even though we can’t totally digest it, because it helps hold water in feces. Anyone who’s suffered constipation knows why water in feces is important.

Instead of focusing fear on the fact that wood cellulose is used, this article could have been of far better use had they looked at *how* the wood cellulose is processed: does the processing add detrimental chemicals to the wood cellulose used in food products?

And by the by, birds eat rocks. They don’t digest the rocks, but the rocks provide a grinding action on their food. By the same token, even though we can’t totally process cellulose, it *does* serve a purpose in aiding evacuation of waste products from our bodies.

Out side of the very biased writing, why is this a bad thing? If you eat processed foods, you get processed ingredients. Cellulose cannot be digested (if it could, we’d have unlimited ethanol for our cars). Do people actually think when you gulp down these kinds of foods you are getting anything simple? Heck, based on those foods, the cellulose might be one of the few natural based ingredients.

Oi vey – there are at least 6 levels of stupid in the article itself, and in a lot of the responses. Watch the Penn & Teller episode of BULLSH!T on “organic foods” and have an epiphany, Food Nazis. The reason processed foods are PROCESSED is because it makes them so they can be on a shelf without turning into a pile of ecoli and fecal coliform. Companies do what they do because it is required by law. I guess you could live off of only “organic” food if you wanted to, but studies have proven that you aren’t getting better nutrition from it – you aren’t more ‘healthy’, and it doesn’t ‘taste better’. And to further puncture the bubble, even though organic foods are less nutritious, disease riddled, and have less flavor – they still cost about 3X more. What a deal. There’s nothing wrong with adding cellulose to food. It isn’t a trick, or a gimmick, or a cheat. Maybe if some granola-children would try living in the real world for a while and run a food business they’re learn a thing or two.

Nathan, Pen and Teller forgot to mention that humanity subsisted on Organic until the 1940’s when synthetic fertilizers and chemical sprays were developed, well da.

Would we be healthier if we went back to Organic Nathan? Well think about this, we have reached the point where 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will get cancer in their life time. Food allergies are the norm and 1 in 2 people are taking medication for an incurable disease. There were 65 autoimmune diseases 7 years ago and everyone was shocked, now there are 150 and each has as many as 100 sub diseases. The over weight population has reached 70% and obesity is pushing 40% of the population. Babies have 300 toxins in their umbilical blood at birth (EWG 2009) and autism is epidemic among children. Now, doctors want to immunize us so we can eat this mess that was developed by industrial farming and manufactured food companies and allowed by the USDA and FDA. That’s like holding your nose so you won’t smell the poison as they pour it down your throat.

I think Nathan that if we do not stop the USDA and the FDA and get this right all that will be left is the food sitting on the shelf.

“we have reached the point where 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will get cancer in their life time”

So? Cancer is a disease specifically related to longevity. The older people live, the more likely they are to get cancer. In 1940, before pesticides and fertilizers, the average life space was 62.9 years, while in 2007 it was 77.9 years. 15 extra years to get cancer, so the rates *should* be higher. That 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men get cancer merely means they aren’t dying sooner of something else.

“Food allergies are the norm”

Citation needed.

“1 in 2 people are taking medication for an incurable disease”

As opposed to 1940 when they would have either suffered because there was no treatment but the condition wasn’t fatal, or they would have died because it was fatal but today we can treat it even if we can’t cure it. This speaks to the advancement of medicine, not the decline of our society.

“There were 65 autoimmune diseases 7 years ago and everyone was shocked, now there are 150 and each has as many as 100 sub diseases”

So we are doing a better job of classifying diseases. Just because we didn’t know how to diagnose all the different conditions does not mean they didn’t exist before. Nothing in this statement even comes close to proving that any of these autoimmune diseases are new as opposed to simply newly classified.

“The over weight population has reached 70% and obesity is pushing 40% of the population”

Yeah, we’re fat. Modern food production has made it so that people can eat huge portions without going broke (they also eat unheathily too, I don’t deny that, but it’s certainly not the whole story and maybe not even most of it). We also have a much more sedentary society. Aka, we are lazy and we work desk jobs. This has as much to do with our overweight society as anything else.

“Now, doctors want to immunize us so we can eat this mess that was developed by industrial farming”

What?!?!?! Doctors want to immunize us because it stops the spread of diseases. Horrible ones like polio, smallpox, mumps, and the like. There is not one single vaccine for our food! More importantly, these diseases existed long before modern agriculture came about so linking the two together is just absolutely absurd!

I said
“we have reached the point where 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men will get cancer in their life time”

gdledford said
So? Cancer is a disease specifically related to longevity.
My answer
Interesting, this is the first time I have heard that allopathic medicine actually found a cause for cancer or any disease for that matter. Considering the trillions of dollars the people and government have poured into medical research into finding the cure for cancer for over 60 years and the War on Cancer declared by Nixon in 1971. And this is the best answer they have for the cause of cancer, excuse me but we have been ripped off!!!

So I guess gdledford now that they know the cause is just getting older they can stop looking for the cure? Of course we can stop blaming all the toxins we are exposed to and all that is allowed into our food, air and water by the USDA , FDA and EPA. I am sure that these government agencies and companies like Monsanto will breathe a sigh of relief. Relieved because now we have no complaints about what we thought was causing cancer, THEM.

This might be a little deep for you gdledford but is no room for the possibility that our toxic load just gets higher as we get older and that is the cause?
Gdledford wants
Citation for “Food allergies are the norm”

My answer
I doubt that a week goes by when just about everyone normally hears about someone’s food allergies even you gdledford but here goes.
FAAN estimate that about 4% of the US population—about 12 million people—are allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, fish or shellfish (www.foodallergy.org). However, “we probably still are under-reporting,” said Muñoz-Furlong. Prevalence rates seem to be similar around the world but could be distorted owing to the limited size of studies and surveys. “For every case reported, there are two or three that didn’t get reported,” Sampson said. In comments on the US Food & Drug Administration’s 2005 Food Safety Survey, FAAN stated that “Accurate and reliable data on food allergy and anaphylaxis is lacking, and it is generally believed that the limited data now available represents an under-reporting of food allergy-related reactions and deaths” (FAAN, 2005).
I said
“1 in 2 people are taking medication for an incurable disease”

gdledford answered
As opposed to 1940 when they would have either suffered because there was no treatment but the condition wasn’t fatal, or they would have died because it was fatal but today we can treat it even if we can’t cure it. This speaks to the advancement of medicine, not the decline of our society.

My answer
I remember when I was a kid gdledford probably about 1950 that allopathic medicine talked about how their goal was finding a cure for every disease. And I remember collecting money to help find cures for different disease drives and bringing that money into school. Now that has been over a half century since that time and how many cures do we have gdledford, exactly zero.

Well what did we get for all that money and all their research and our suffering? We got a whole lot of expensive poisonous treatments for hundreds of incurable diseases and patients will need to take that medication for the rest of your life. Sounds like a money making business to be in huh gdledford

”Herpes virus is an incurable disease,” that is what modern medicine says. I say it is easy to cure but I can’t tell you how or they will put me in prison. That is where Freedom of Speech started going down the drain in the USA when one adult citizen cannot tell another adult citizen the truth.

I said
“There were 65 autoimmune diseases 7 years ago and everyone was shocked, now there are 150 and each has as many as 100 sub diseases”
You said
So we are doing a better job of classifying diseases. Just because we didn’t know how to diagnose all the different conditions does not mean they didn’t exist before. Nothing in this statement even comes close to proving that any of these autoimmune diseases are new as opposed to simply newly classified.
My answer
Interesting you would say that gdledford because the medical drugs listed below are known to cause autoimmune diseases. Alferon N, Allopurinol, Atenolol, Atorvastatin, captopril, Carbamazepine, chlorpromazine, Chlorthalidone, cimetidine The list is alphabetical and there are probably another fifty on the list. From the article: A Key to Solving Auto-Immune Diseases Like Rheumatoid Arthritis, http://www.9tb.org/a-key-to-solving-auto-immune-diseases-like-rhe... – China

Me
“The over weight population has reached 70% and obesity is pushing 40% of the population”
You
Yeah, we’re fat. Modern food production has made it so that people can eat huge portions without going broke (they also eat unhealthily too, I don’t deny that, but it’s certainly not the whole story and maybe not even most of it). We also have a much more sedentary society. Aka, we are lazy and we work desk jobs. This has as much to do with our overweight society as anything else.

Me
American’s have always eaten large portions that is nothing new I remember that from when I was a kid on a farm. And when someone brags about a restaurant people always say “great place wait till you see the large portions they serve.” You are really following the medical line gdledford, it is the person who is to blame.

Me
“Now, doctors want to immunize us so we can eat this mess that was developed by industrial farming”
You
What?!?!?! Doctors want to immunize us because it stops the spread of diseases. Horrible ones like polio, smallpox, mumps, and the like. There is not one single vaccine for our food! More importantly, these diseases existed long before modern agriculture came about so linking the two together is just absolutely absurd!

Me
This is an immunizing technique to desensitize children to allergy agents. This first experiment used milk so that despite the children’s body not wanting them to drink milk they will. What they are not considering is why the children’s body does not want to accept the food in the first place, what is in and wrong with the milk?

Pasteurized milk is considered a junk food and contains Bovine growth hormone (rBGH) that can lead to breast, prostate, or colon cancer. Pasteurized milk is considered a junk food and can cause obesity, cancer, heart disease, allergies, diabetes, and even osteoporosis. Pasteurizing milk destroys digestive enzymes and even doubles the amount of harmful bacteria. During pasteurization, enzymes like lactase, galactase, and phosphatase are destroyed.
From article: The Dairy Disaster: Milk Does Not Do Your Body Good, Monday, February 08, 2010 by: Allison Biggarhttp://www.naturalnews.com/028111_milk_dairy.html#ixzz1SAR2BIvB

The Experiment Using Children
”Our findings suggest that oral immunotherapy gradually retrains the immune system to completely disregard or to better tolerate the allergens in milk that previously caused allergic reactions,” says Robert Wood, M.D., senior investigator on the study and director of Allergy & Immunology at Hopkins Children’s. From article: Milk Immunotherapy: A Possible Treatment for Milk Allergies? Natural Standard, October 31, 2008

You, gdledford, need to put your brain in gear before you open your mouth!!!

“Interesting, this is the first time I have heard that allopathic medicine actually found a cause for cancer or any disease for that matter.”

So they didn’t find the cause of polio, or rheumatic fever, or strep throat, or mercury poisoning, or lead poisoning? Stating that they’ve not found the cause of “any disease” is ludicrous. In fact, it’s enough for me to rest my case that you don’t deserve the title “Doctor” of anything.

That being said, they haven’t found the cause of everything, but they certainly have found the cause of a great many things. And they can’t cure everything they’ve found the cause of, but they can cure many of them, and treat many more.

I’m not so pro-pharmacuetical as you make me out to be. I dislike the thought of taking modern drugs, and I take precisely zero at this point in my life. If I came across a problem and my doctor wanted to treat me with a drug that required I take it for the rest of my life, I would strongly look for an alternative solution that didn’t involve a life long drug dependency. But I’m not so biased that I ignore the successes they’ve had and claim they’ve done nothing. That’s just entirely false.

As for cancer, knowing what causes something is just the first step to curing it. And when I refer to it being a disease of longevity, it’s a broad classification that takes in a multitude of discreet causes. The short answer is that cancer is caused by damaged DNA in our cells. They’ve found that the damage can even be passed down from one generation to another (look up epigenetics). They’ve found that you need a combination of six different specific forms of genetic mutation to all occur in one cell for cancer to actually form (Scientific American, can’t remember which issue, it’s packed away in boxes at the moment). And we know that there are naturally occurring sources of cellular damage, where even if you removed every single harmful toxin you would list, there are still things in this world that will cause DNA damage, and given enough time, you *will* get enough damage to cause cancer to occur. One naturally occurring source of damage: the sun. In fact, they now theorize that the bodies natural aging process is our natural defense to cancer (they’ve turned off the aging process in mice in a lab, but when they did, over 50% of the mice developed cancer in a very short period of time, but those that didn’t acted like mice considerably younger than they were, again, Scientific American, and again issue packed away somewhere).

So, has that money you talked about gone to waste? Of course not. We haven’t reached the end goal, but significant progress has been made. Cancer survival rates are *much* higher than they were in 1950, even if it isn’t cured yet.

“FAAN estimate that about 4% of the US population—about 12 million people—are allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, fish or shellfish (www.foodallergy.org).”

4% is not a “norm”. It’s a high number, but not a norm. And as you go on to say, they are probably under reporting. No doubt, it was under reported in the past too. So the shift in allergies is probably not as high as you make it out to be.

“I remember when I was a kid gdledford probably about 1950 that allopathic medicine talked about how their goal was finding a cure for every disease. And I remember collecting money to help find cures for different disease drives and bringing that money into school. Now that has been over a half century since that time and how many cures do we have gdledford, exactly zero.”

Really, because my aunt and my mother both contracted polio around 1950, and since then it’s been eliminated from our society. That you can say “exactly zero” with a straight face boggles me.

“American’s have always eaten large portions that is nothing new I remember that from when I was a kid on a farm.”

So do I. After the farm, it was construction. After that, it was a computer engineer. Guess what? When I switched from a highly active lifestyle to a sedentary lifestyle, the amount of food I could eat without gaining weight went drastically down. The combination of large portion sizes and sedentary lifestyles does more to cause us to be fat than anything else.

“I will just mention one of the major causes high Fructose corn syrup”

On the evils of high fructose corn syrup you and I agree. I hate the stuff and it ought to be banned. But it is only one factor among many that causes us to be a fat society.

“This is an immunizing technique to desensitize children to allergy agents.”

Fine, when you said immunize, I thought vaccine while you meant desensitization therapy. We’ll chalk that one up to semantic vagueness.

me
This is old medical technology basically borrowed from the Chinese and India systems of medicine who chose not to use them for wide spread vaccination till we came into the picture.

Finding the virus was merely narrowing down the viruses/germs till the right one was found which was discovered more than a hundred years ago and does not involve the time we are talking about gdledford.

In 1898, the Dutch microbiologist Martinus Beijerinck repeated the experiments and became convinced that the filtered solution contained a new form of infectious agent.[15] He observed that the agent multiplied only in cells that were dividing, but as his experiments did not show that it was made of particles, he called it a contagium vivum fluidum (soluble living germ) and re-introduced the word virus.[14] Beijerinck maintained that viruses were liquid in nature, a theory later discredited by Wendell Stanley, who proved they were particulate.[14] In the same year Friedrich Loeffler and Frosch passed the first animal virus – agent of foot-and-mouth disease (aphthovirus) – through a similar filter.[16
Virus – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus

gdledford
The same goes for the rest of them rheumatic fever

Me
Medical research has yet to pinpoint the exact cause of Rheumatic fever. One theory is based on abnormalities in the immune system that react to Streptococcal bacteria by breaking out into Rheumatic fever. Researchers are also studying the the genes of patients suffering from this disease to determine whether there exists a genetic predisposition that causes a response to Streptococcal infections in a like manner.http://www.medicalook.com/Fever/Rheumatic_fever.html

gdledford
mercury poisoning, or lead poisoning?

Me
So gdledford we are left with these two, do you want us to believe that all the trillions spent on medical research went to discovering the cause of these?

gdledford
Stating that they’ve not found the cause of “any disease” is ludicrous. In fact, it’s enough for me to rest my case that you don’t deserve the title “Doctor” of anything.
That being said, they haven’t found the cause of everything, but they certainly have found the cause of a great many things. And they can’t cure everything they’ve found the cause of, but they can cure many of them, and treat many more.

Me
I can bearly make out what you are saying here? Possibly gdleford you need to see a doctor but I can save you the trip. Go and get yourself a series of very through high colonics and top them with a nice long vacation.

I am not going to waste any more of my time on the rest of this, I guess my doctorate is safe.

me
This is old medical technology basically borrowed from the Chinese and India systems of medicine who chose not to use them for wide spread vaccination till we came into the picture.”

They (allopathic doctors as you call them) created the vaccine that is still used today. There was no vaccine in ancient eastern medicine, nor had they identified the specific virus.

In addition, you cite some information about the discovery of the nature of a virus. I would place all of the doctors listed into the category of true scientists, which places them more solidly in the allopathic category than the naturopathic category you claim is the only one to have had any success at anything in the entire history of the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio_vaccine

“gdledford
The same goes for the rest of them rheumatic fever

Me
Medical research has yet to pinpoint the exact cause of Rheumatic fever.”

Fortunately, sometimes you don’t have to have the cause of the disease to still be able to eliminate it. Antibiotics reduce the overall time of streptococcus infections, and generally prevent it from developing into Rheumatic Fever. Only in areas where antibiotics are not available to help with conditions such as strep throat is it still a concern (or in those cases where a person gets strep throat and doesn’t even know it and hence takes no antibiotics).

Anyway, I won’t argue each and every medical advance with you. Suffice it to say, in the time period in question, where you claim our society went from eating organic to eating FDA/USDA approved swill, and where we now routinely poison our bodies with toxins that are killing us while the FDA/USDA laughs at our stupidity, in that same period of time, the average lifespan of a US citizen has gone up 15 years. All that poison must be doing us some good, eh? While you give *no* credit to allopathic doctors for anything they do, the truth of the matter is that they *do* help us live longer, even if it isn’t in a way you approve of. They’ve had their failures, but they’ve also had their successes. That you refuse to acknowledge *any* of their successes while the fruits of their labor is sitting right in front of you makes you an extremist. So be it. But I’ve not found an extremist yet that has anything more than half a grip on reality versus the imaginary world they think they live in.

Interesting how I can get pasteurized milk without any BGH or antibiotics from my local dairy. This is the first I’ve ever read linking the heating of milk to kill pathogens to the presence of artificial drugs and hormones in milk….

This article does a good job of scaremongering talking about ‘wood’ and how cellulose is not ‘digestible’. The point is it is a fiber, and fiber is de facto not digestible. This is not going to kill anyone. The average North American consumes less than half his or her RDA of dietary fibre, so probably better they have more of this stuff than more trans fats. More grains and neither would be the best solution, but there you go.

The only mistake I can see in this article is the reference to this crap as “food”. Real food is whole or minimally processed (homemade pesto, for example).
The unfortunate part about this articles and others like it, is it’s read by those who already share parallel belief systems, not as much by those whose paradigms require a major shift – the kid they would get by being confronted with this information.
Every school should include an entire course’s worth of curriculum on the subject of food systems. Too bad the public school system is run by the government…

Pro, con, or ambivalent, does it really even matter ? The air, water and soil all contain so many contaminants and toxins now, is there really a “healthy” option available ? Healthier perhaps, but its only relative.

1 – I do not mind eating cellulose. I chew on toothpicks, chewed on pine needles, and chewed on my crib. Cellulose is a useful product but adding it to otherwise worthless food does not make the food any more worthless.
2 – There is nothing on that list of foods that I will eat. They are all worthless on their own with or without added cellulose. Almost all of these contain genetically modified corn or genetically modified soybeans, or genetically modified canola oil.
3 – I take a fiber supplement every day, but I prefer Inulin because it will feed my intestinal flora at the same time it acts as a binder.
4 – I do not need “food scientist” dreaming up a new way to “make food” They do not make food. Food comes from nature. They make food like stuff.
5 – If the FDA is so corrupt as to allow arsenic in chicken, then there is no limit to what they will allow in the food. (Google it they did and have been)
6 – If you are concerned with the addition of cellulose to food, then you should take careful stock of what you put into your mouth. I took a long and hard look about 5 years ago when I was over 300 pounds. What I found was not a pretty sight. I was not eating food, I was eating food like stuff they sell in all the stores and I was overweight and dying. I am now under 200 pounds and loaded with muscles. I pay a lot more for what I eat, but I eat less of it because real food fills you up. Look up the diet the USDA suggests for cows when they are being fattened for market. Whole grains, Soy beans, sugar, corn, etc. in a word very low-fat. Now look at what the USDA tells us to eat and wonder why we are not fatter than we are already.

While we each can not do much about the problem as a whole, we can each one teach one about a few key ideas. A – Fat does not make you fat – carbs do. B – Fiber does not keep you from getting hungry – Fat does. C – If everyone believes something about food – it is likely wrong. D – If people in the late 19’th and early 20’th century did not eat it then you probably should avoid it as well.

As far as organic food not being better – 1 – It tastes better – just sample some organic strawberries then try the standard kind. 2 – It has more nutrition (Look up the studies) 3 – The real benefit of organic food is that it does not contain genetically modified ingredients.

For all those who think that cellulose extenders are great there is an added bonus for you. Don’t forget to eat the cardboard box that your food comes in- you paid for it. I get my fiber at the local farmer’s market. I don’t have to pay for packaging, transportation, advertising and the food actually tastes good.

Not trolling, I am genuinely curious – what’s so bad about cellulose? Isn’t there cellulose in most plants? Soybean stalks for example, and hemp? Would anyone complain if Nabisco was adding cellulose from soybeans to its crackers?

I just don’t see how this can compare to, say, the megadoses of antibiotics given to chickens, the hormones given to dairy cows, the beaver anal glands used in strawberry ice cream, etc.

Thanks for posting. I got inspired by some of these food conglomerates; General Mills http://twitpic.com/5q5a1x , Kraft Foods http://twitpic.com/5q4cxu & Jack in the Box http://twitpic.com/5q54yu
Plus, I don’t know if anybody else has noticed something rather Freudian in Dole’s sphincter-ish looking new logo (unedited http://bit.ly/opYDrV ). Perhaps the ‘O’ is representative of the messy lavatory visit one might experience after consuming too many of their Crème Parfaits.

Thanks Rady. I wish I’d seen it sooner too. Oh well, people’ll see ’em. I must say some of your reader’s comments are cracking me up – those who’ve become so disconnected from the basic necessity that is FOOD. Not seeing how bizarre and denatured this issue is, astounds me.

i am not saying adding “stuff” to food is a good thing – but you do realize that *every* plant cell (not just wood) is surrounded by a cell wall made of “cellulose” – we ingest it every day (every salad, apple, carrot, etc) and it makes up most of the fiber you get when you eat plants…..not saying adding wood fibers is good – but let’s step back and get a little perspective. i think the hundreds of preservatives and artificial colours are more worrisome than “cellulose.”

Cori – they are all just as bad. You are being told by the food producers that they are selling you FOOD when in fact they are not.

Your argument is very silly. It is like saying, ‘Some flowers are edible, some flowers are not edible, including those that are poison. If you applied your logic here it would be like saying, ‘Therefore all flowers are edible.’

Does pointing to a greater evil really really excuse a lesser evil? Is our attention span so small that we can only afford to pay attention to one negative ingredient in our big mac in between ridiculous reality shows?

Let me back up here, personally i am not convinced that the wood pulp is necessarily detrimental to our health. I’ve yet to come across substantiated information showing me the key differences between fiber from wood pulp and other dietary fiber/cellulose. My intuition has me leaning towards it not being ~ as good ~ as dietary fiber occurring organically in vegetables and fruits. However I try to substantiate my “intuitions” with scientific observation as much as possible.

This article sensationalizes a trivial thing, and could have found hundreds of other food ingredients and processes that are far more scary. As others have said, most of the veggies we eat are full of cellulose. Fruits too, and fruits come from – oh my god – wooden trees! The types of chemicals used to derive the cellulose from wood might have been a better subject.

There is an element of shock value here that I find cheap and irresponsible, but what news media source is innocent of that tactic? Knowing that many people would be surprised to learn of cellulose in their food, the article implies that this is a bad thing, focusing on the ‘wood’, and how it is ‘indigestible.’ Indigestible cellulose may have no nutrition, but it’s a great scouring pad for your inner plumbing.

I can understand people’s shock in learning this. If I found out that most ground beef had a small percentage of human meat added as an extender, I’d be shocked. But the truth is it’s probably not going to hurt me any more than the beef (unless they used ground Americans). Telling myself this wouldn’t make me feel any less nauseous. It’s the knowledge of the cellulose source that turns people off. They think it’s nasty because it’s like eating the daily newspaper, and because wood cellulose is used to make glue, detergents, kitty litter, etc. Cereals that are “fortified with iron” simply have fine shavings of iron in them, and iron is used to make steel. When you get to the bottom of the bowl you can see it, and pick it up with a magnet. Of all the elements in a human body, iron is the most abundant metal, but finding iron filings in your Captain Crunch may disturb some. Why? It’s the idea of metal shavings.

But I don’t buy into the idea that food companies put cellulose in our food to help us crap better. I’m sure the real incentive is expanding the bulk of their products with cheap filler to boost their profits. They could just as easily use cellulose from veggies and brag about it on the label, but I’m sure their profit margin would drop, and no smart business wants that. Some pet foods have ash in them. This isn’t to make your pet’s coat soft and shiny. It’s a cheap way to fill extra space in the can. But hey, business is about profit, and wood cellulose makes a pretty tasty taco.

For a country that is extremely health conscious and always promoting a good diet, Americans are unhealthy and grossly overweight. Anyone who’s traveled to other countries has probably asked at one point, “where are all the fat people?” And being a third world country has nothing to do with it. Japan is not third world, and only 3% of Japanese are obese (sumo wrestlers included), while a whopping 31% of Americans are obese (opera singers included). With all the stringent nit picking the FDA appears to exercise over our food and drugs, you’d think we’d all look good on the cover of Vogue in swimwear at the age of 90. What’s going on? For an administration that closely governs what we put in our bodies, all in the name of health, the FDA has me completely baffled. Some examples:

The FDA approves of spiking our municipal water with “fluoride.” Yeah, natural fluoride is good. But the “fluoride” going into drinking water is smelting waste from factories producing aluminum and other metals, and studies show it does a body bad. But the FDA has our good health in mind. Stalin and Hitler also found that fluoridated water was good for their prisoners. It tended to keep them docile and submissive, so be sure to drink at least 8 full glasses of water a day!

Cigarettes are like syringes in that they are simply a drug delivery system. The FDA is well aware of how lethal cigarettes are, but I don’t imagine they’ll be pulling them from the shelves anytime soon. They’d rather pull vitamins and supplements instead. The FDA has a history of demonizing supplements, claiming they have no real benefits, and some may be harmful. But now they’re trying to put the manufacture and control of them in the hands of big pharmaceutical companies. Hmm…

Speaking of drug lords, investigations into the FDA and drug companies have found that they have been very slow to react to evidence of prescription drug dangers, downplay prescription related deaths, and the FDA tried to squelch agency doctors who raised alarms internally.

Toxic smelting waste makes water healthier. Cigarettes are allowable. Prescriptions that kill are acceptable collateral damage. Vitamins and supplements are bad, and should be regulated by drug companies. I have the feeling that if we learned that eating banana peels could cure all types of cancer, the FDA would pull bananas from the market, and only allow us to eat peeled bananas from a can. After all, a healthy America is VERY bad for the pharmaceutical industry.

So, food producers are putting wood pulp in our food because it’s a good source of fiber (and cheap expander). Relax. Have a smoke. Wash your Prozac down with plenty of tap water. Everything’s going to be just fine.

Cellulose is the structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth. About 33% of all plant matter is cellulose. So if the food contains plant matter- then of course it’s going to have Cellulose in it.

Now yes – they may add cellulose to some ingredients to make it higher in fiber and lower in fat- but whats wrong with that? If I can eat a cookie that tastes great but is low fat high fiber – even if its made from wood – why not?

I just hate how articles like this make it sound like Cellulose is ONLY made from wood so makes people think they should look for things without it at all, which would be silly. I’d be scared to find a loaf of bread with the lable “NO CELLULOSE” , what is it made from then?

I can’t believe it, I left that laying there and I thought naw he cannot be that stupid to come back and pick that up? But sure enough you did, and when I saw that I laughed out loud, good grief you are sooo brain washed I do not know what to say?

When I first read what you said in earlier comments I thought that for sure you were at least as old as me (66 years) which is part of the mass deluded population on a number of medications. But you are not are you Dave; you are actually in your prime and I find it amazing that you can be this brain frozen for a young man?

Ok, we are back to 1 + 1 = 2

You said
There was no vaccine in ancient eastern medicine, nor had they identified the specific virus.

Me
Really, what do you think they put in those vaccines they give people Dave, come on get your little unstuck brain cells working?

Basically vaccines are live or dead viruses or germs from someone who had the disease mixed in with heavy metals and other poisons. This is basically what they were using in India and China (minus the poisons, too smart for that) when we were still in the dark ages. Oh, and they didn’t need to identify the virus/germs Dave it was right there on the persons body in the scabs. But not to underestimate those civilizations and their naturopaths they were smart enough not to mass inoculate because unlike the allopath’s in the West they understood the dangers.

You
So they didn’t find the cause of polio (God, is this the best you can do?)

Me
(I should be charging you for this education)
Poliovirus was discovered by Karl Landsteiner in 1909 (long before the waste of time, trillions of dollars and lives we are talking about).

You
They (allopathic doctors as you call them) created the vaccine that is still used today. There was no vaccine in ancient eastern medicine, nor had they identified the specific virus.

Me
Basically you are repeating what you said above

You
In addition, you cite some information about the discovery of the nature of a virus. I would place all of the doctors listed into the category of true scientists, which places them more solidly in the allopathic category than the naturopathic category you claim is the only one to have had any success at anything in the entire history of the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio_vaccine “gdledford” (you are Glurging Here Dave)

Me (again helping you learn to add 1 + 1)
You just don’t get it do you Dave, you are the one living in an imaginary world. Allopathic medicine has done its best to outlaw and stamp out all naturopathic medicine. How could we possibly take part in any of the science you are talking about when all research money is controlled and funneled to allopathic medicine (see below).
The National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical companies collectively contribute 26.4 billion dollars and 27.0 billion dollars, respectively, which constitute 28% and 29% of the total, respectively. Other significant contributors include biotechnology companies (17.9 billion dollars, 19% of total), medical device companies (9.2 billion dollars, 10% of total), other federal sources, and state and local governments. Foundations and charities, led by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, contributed about 3% of the funding. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_research

Look at the billions spent and what do we have to show for those billions. We are ranked 37th in quality of health care in the world and at the same time we spend the most money on research. http://www.who.int/healthinfo/paper30.pdf. p. 18 While somewhere in the area of 100,000 people die every year from the medicine prescribed by their doctor.

You
Medical research has yet to pinpoint the exact cause of Rheumatic fever.”

Fortunately, sometimes you don’t have to have the cause of the disease to still be able to eliminate it. Antibiotics reduce the overall time of streptococcus infections, and generally prevent it from developing into Rheumatic Fever. Only in areas where antibiotics are not available to help with conditions such as strep throat is it still a concern (or in those cases where a person gets strep throat and doesn’t even know it and hence takes no antibiotics).

Me
Dave, again this discovery is long before the time we were discussing (1928 England Sir Alexander Fleming) when all these trillions were wasted to find cures that were never found. Oh, and look below at who really first worked with antibiotics so really it is just a borrowed idea from naturopaths?

During ancient times;
Greeks and Indians used moulds and other plants to treat infections.

In Greece and Serbia, mouldy bread was traditionally used to treat wounds and infections.
Warm soil was used in Russia by peasants to cure infected wounds.
Sumerian doctors gave patients beer soup mixed with turtle shells and snake skins.
Babylonian doctors healed the eyes using a mixture of frog bile and sour milk.
Sri Lankan army used oil cake (sweetmeat) to serve both as desiccant and antibacterial.
Modern
1928 England Sir Alexander Fleming discovered enzyme lysozyme and the antibiotic substance penicillin from the fungus Penicillium notatum
1932 Germany Gerhard Domagk discovered Sulfonamidochrysoidine (Prontosil )
Medical Research History: http://www.experiment-resources.com/history-of-antibiotics.html#ixzz1SVpVNgDx

You
Anyway, I won’t argue each and every medical advance with you. Suffice it to say, in the time period in question, where you claim our society went from eating organic to eating FDA/USDA approved swill, and where we now routinely poison our bodies with toxins that are killing us while the FDA/USDA laughs at our stupidity, in that same period of time, the average lifespan of a US citizen has gone up 15 years.

Me
Sorry you are more wrong then right Dave, remember I am 66 so I know those years very well and I remember what it was like. Plumbing was just coming into homes across the country, we had one of the first hand pumps in the kitchen so cleaning bodies and food was difficult. Indoor toilets were just replacing outdoor with their cesspools and septic tanks (I remember our outhouse had 3 seats considered a big deal then and no sink to wash your hands) and there were very few sewer systems then. Keeping food fresh was difficult as you had what is called an ice box and I remember the ice man delivering to our house. In that time period we went from bathing once a week to every day and I remember my mother putting her foot down about my father developing the new habit. And of course the availability to more types of food due to improved food transport. Also food handling outside the home in those days the laws were just coming into place and the FDA and USDA actually protected the population from the mishandling of foods. And the food Pyramid even though upside down at least mentioned eating fruits and vegetables. So no Dave, improvements in medicine were a small part of increased life expectancy despite allopathic medicine taking all the credit.

You
All that poison must be doing us some good, eh? While you give *no* credit to allopathic doctors for anything they do, the truth of the matter is that they *do* help us live longer, even if it isn’t in a way you approve of. They’ve had their failures, but they’ve also had their successes. (Glurge)

Me
My giving credit to allopathic doctors has not been the subject but ok, since you just brought that up here is my opinion. Allopathic medicine is very successful at emergencies such as heart attack, car accidents, gun shot wounds etc. When a person needs to be stabilized quickly they are tops but when it comes to recovery I suggest a person get themselves home as fast as they can. When it comes to chronic disease such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and all the autoimmune diseases they are completely lost. But they have the law on their side and all the money to keep anything of real healing value away from the public because profit comes before lives.

If they were really as good as you say they would allow the free market to decide who is best and drop all their restrictive laws against free speech? But they are afraid that the people will discover just how poor their medicine and treatments are and lose their high status and the pharmaceutical business in this country.

You
They’ve had their failures, but they’ve also had their successes. That you refuse to acknowledge *any* of their successes while the fruits of their labor is sitting right in front of you makes you an extremist. So be it. But I’ve not found an extremist yet that has anything more than half a grip on reality versus the imaginary world they think they live in. (Glurge)

Me
Dave first you need to give me a legitimate success of allopathic medicine? We have a one dimensional system of medicine and one dimensional thinkers brain washed into believing that allopathic is divine and can do very little wrong and that is where you are stuck Dave. I will take extremist over a sheeple anytime Dave in fact I take it as a complement that I have the ability to think beyond the norm.

All in all here Dave, since it seems I am your teacher, I give you an F+ because I see some improvement. Please Dave, you seem to be intelligent do some research and studying before you bring up these subjects as I do not appreciate doing it for you.

I said
There was no vaccine in ancient eastern medicine, nor had they identified the specific virus.

You said
Really, what do you think they put in those vaccines they give people Dave, come on get your little unstuck brain cells working?

Basically vaccines are live or dead viruses or germs from someone who had the disease mixed in with heavy metals and other poisons. This is basically what they were using in India and China (minus the poisons, too smart for that) when we were still in the dark ages. Oh, and they didn’t need to identify the virus/germs Dave it was right there on the persons body in the scabs.

Me
No scabs from polio. And unless you can get all three strains of the virus, you are still susceptible even after scab treatment. The allopathic doctors identified all three strains (which the naturapathic doctors didn’t), then worked on a means of replicating them in mass quantities (which the naturapathic doctors didn’t), then created a single vaccine that covered all three strains (again, NDs didn’t), and finally they did the one thing that NDs *never* do: they actually *proved* that what they created worked. The best of the various vaccines was tested and found to confer protection against all three strains of the virus in 99% of all patients treated. Please show me even *one* double blind, peer review worthy study of the naturapathic remedy of your choice that *proves* it works. If you can’t find one, I can point you to a proper study done by an allopathic drug company of a natural remedy that was approved by the FDA, but I don’t know of even one by any ND.

And really, that’s the big difference between an ND and an allopathic doctor. An ND will believe anything will cure you. In the early 1900s they were still suggesting people drink sassafrass root teas each spring to “clean the system”, or ingesting turpentine, or ingesting crude oil. All of these things are toxic, some carcinogenic. The NDs occasionally find something useful, they sometimes find something that works only because it is making your body sick, and sometimes they find things that don’t work at all and just make you sick. Allopathic doctors are true scientists (for the most part, there are disreputable ones too), and instead of simply believing something works, they do the research and perform the studies to *prove* it works. And in the case of things like moldy bread, they do the work to identify *what* in the moldy bread is actually working and then isolate so a person doesn’t have to eat moldy bread if they don’t want to. And they take the time to get things properly identified and to create specific treatments that do what they are supposed to do and as little else as possible (although with the side effects some drugs have this would be hard to believe, but they do try to limit side effects, it’s not in their business interests).

You said
If they were really as good as you say they would allow the free market to decide who is best and drop all their restrictive laws against free speech? But they are afraid that the people will discover just how poor their medicine and treatments are and lose their high status and the pharmaceutical business in this country.

Me
On top of that, *anyone* can claim to be an ND, and so you had people that really knew nothing selling things like coal tar elixirs as cure alls back in the early 1900s. Which, by the way, is *why* the FDA requires people to prove their drug works before they legally allow you to claim it works today. You’re idea of a free market really is “Let anyone claim anything, and if the consumer gets something that is toxic and never worked at all, so be it.”

Face facts. People, especially when they are sick, will grasp at anything or anyone that claims they can make them better. The charlatans of the late 1800s and early 1900s are the ones to blame for the FDA’s crackdown on people claiming they can cure things without proof that they can. But you aren’t truly prevented from saying what you want to say, you simply have to meet the normal standards for acceptable clinical trials to prove that what you are saying, and what you are selling, is not a total load of rubbish and the FDA will free your voice to preach to anyone that will listen. I suggest you quit complaining about the FDA tying your hands and do the work that is necessary to prove your point and clear your good name.

can’t believe it, I left that laying there and I thought naw he cannot be that stupid to come back and pick that up? But sure enough you did, and when I saw that I laughed out loud, good grief you are sooo brain washed I do not know what to say? When I […]
You
Where did you get the name Dave? Certainly not from me.

Me
gdledford is an email address to someone with the first name Dave if you have another one I’ll use it.

You
There was no vaccine in ancient eastern medicine, nor had they identified the specific virus.
You said
Really, what do you think they put in those vaccines they give people Dave, come on get your little unstuck brain cells working?
Basically vaccines are live or dead viruses or germs from someone who had the disease mixed in with heavy metals and other poisons. This is basically what they were using in India and China (minus the poisons, too smart for that) when we were still in the dark ages. Oh, and they didn’t need to identify the virus/germs Dave it was right there on the persons body in the scabs.
Me
No scabs from polio. And unless you can get all three strains of the virus, you are still susceptible even after scab treatment. The allopathic doctors identified all three strains (which the naturapathic doctors didn’t), then worked on a means of replicating them in mass quantities (which the naturapathic doctors didn’t), then created a single vaccine that covered all three strains (again, NDs didn’t), and finally they did the one thing that NDs *never* do: they actually *proved* that what they created worked. The best of the various vaccines was tested and found to confer protection against all three strains of the virus in 99% of all patients treated. Please show me even *one* double blind, peer review worthy study of the naturapathic remedy of your choice that *proves* it works. If you can’t find one, I can point you to a proper study done by an allopathic drug company of a natural remedy that was approved by the FDA, but I don’t know of even one by any ND.

Me (let me skip to the chase here)
Vaccinations are business and profit driven and have never been scientifically proven to work. That is right, the science has never been done see below and verify it for yourself. The truth is that you are supposed to put your faith in their ability to work despite the side effects. Doc Blake

Below are medical doctors many are famous and considered the top in their field risking their reputations to expose the truth. Here they paint a clear picture of the real world of vaccination for profit only.

“The medical establishment has created a set of terms which they use constantly to boost their egos and firm up their authority as the unique holders of medical wisdom – the mantra is “evidence-based medicine”, as if everything outside their anointing touch is bogus and suspect. A careful examination of many of the accepted treatments reveals that most have little or no scientific “evidence-based” data to support them. One often reported study found that almost 80% of medical practices had no scientific backing.”
Richard Blaylock MD, Neurosurgeon, ‘Vaccines, Neurodevelopment and Autism Spectrum Disorders’

“The propaganda dispensed by Public health care and vaccine apologists is, at best, a weak attempt to rationalize the healthcare establishments positions using all the tools of doublespeak or, as George Orwell’s called it in his book ‘1984’, “newspeak”, to: mislead (b) distort reality (c) pretend to communicate (d) make the bad seem good (e) avoid and/or shift responsibility (f) make the negative appear positive (g) create a false verbal map of the world and (h) create dissonance between reality and what the narrative said or did not say. Such propaganda often relies on half-truths and/or superficially logical but foundationally flawed and based on pseudo- science or non reviewable statistical studies of medical records, where, contrary to ethical science the study design, data selection/rejection criteria, exact approach used to evaluate the data, and/or the original data itself are kept confidential, making independent evaluation/verification of the published findings impossible.”
Gary S. Goldman PhD, ‘Key Realities about Autism, Vaccines…’

“I find it interesting that there exists an incredible double standard when it comes to ‘our’ evidence versus ‘theirs’. The proponents of vaccination safety can just say they are safe, without any supporting evidence what-so-ever, and it will be accepted without question. They can announce that mercury is not only safe, but that it seems to actually increase the IQ and we are to accept it.”
Russell Blaylock MD, Neurosurgeon, ‘Vaccines, Neurodevelopmental and Autism Spectrum Disorders’

The Vaccinated versus the Non-Vaccinated… Why No Official Studies?
“The public is surely entitled to convincing proof, beyond any reasonable doubt, that artificial immunization is in fact a safe and effective procedure, in no way injurious to health, and that the threat of the corresponding natural diseases remain sufficiently clear and urgent to warrant mass inoculation of everyone, even against their will if necessary. Unfortunately, such proof has never been given.”
Richard Moscowitz MD, ‘The Case against Immunization’

“Incredible as it sounds a controlled study comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children has never been done in America for any vaccination… The only explanation for this is bias and political pressure… This means that vaccination is essentially a large scale experiment in our nation’s children.”
Dr. Philip Incao MD Hepatitis B Vaccine Testimony, 1999

“There has never been a single vaccine in this country that has ever been submitted to a controlled scientific study. They never took a group of 100 people who were candidates for a vaccine, gave 50 of them a vaccine and left the other 50 alone, and measured the outcome. And since that’s never been done, that means if you want to be kind, you will call vaccines an unproven remedy. If you want to be accurate you will call people who give vaccines quacks.”
Robert S. Mendelsohn MD, Pediatrician, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Illinios, College of Medicine

“There is a wider problem because of the failure to carry out long-term, randomized, controlled studies properly conducted scientific investigations which would monitor the effects of multiple, early vaccination versus non-vaccination into adulthood.”
Michel Odent MD, London

“Evaluation of side-effects in most studies was restricted to 48-72 hours. Needless to say, many serious side effects show up long after that time span. Nevertheless, most of these studies pretend to prove the safety of the vaccine.”
Dr. Kris Gaublome, MD Belgium

“Safety studies on vaccinations are limited to short periods. For this reason, there are valid grounds for suspecting that many delayed type vaccine reactions may be taking place unrecognized.”
Dr. Harold Buttram MD, FAACP (wrote ‘Vaccines and Genetic Mutations’)

I said
If they were really as good as you say they would allow the free market to decide who is best and drop all their restrictive laws against free speech? But they are afraid that the people will discover just how poor their medicine and treatments are and lose their high status and the pharmaceutical business in this country.

You
clinical trials to prove that what you are saying, and what you are selling, is not a total load of rubbish and the FDA will free your voice to preach to anyone that will listen. I suggest you quit complaining about the FDA tying your hands and do the work that is necessary to prove your point and clear your good name.

And really, that’s the big difference between an ND and an allopathic doctor. An ND will believe anything will cure you. In the early 1900s they were still suggesting people drink sassafrass root teas each spring to “clean the system”, or ingesting turpentine, or ingesting crude oil. All of these things are toxic, some carcinogenic. The NDs occasionally find something useful, they sometimes find something that works only because it is making your body sick, and sometimes they find things that don’t work at all and just make you sick. Allopathic doctors are true scientists (for the most part, there are disreputable ones too), and instead of simply believing something works, they do the research and perform the studies to *prove* it works. And in the case of things like moldy bread, they do the work to identify *what* in the moldy bread is actually working and then isolate so a person doesn’t have to eat moldy bread if they don’t want to. And they take the time to get things properly identified and to create specific treatments that do what they are supposed to do and as little else as possible (although with the side effects some drugs have this would be hard to believe, but they do try to limit side effects, it’s not in their business interests).

On top of that, *anyone* can claim to be an ND, and so you had people that really knew nothing selling things like coal tar elixirs as cure alls back in the early 1900s. Which, by the way, is *why* the FDA requires people to prove their drug works before they legally allow you to claim it works today. You’re idea of a free market really is “Let anyone claim anything, and if the consumer gets something that is toxic and never worked at all, so be it.”
Face facts. People, especially when they are sick, will grasp at anything or anyone that claims they can make them better. The charlatans of the late 1800s and early 1900s are the ones to blame for the FDA’s crackdown on people claiming they can cure things without proof that they can. But you aren’t truly prevented from saying what you want to say, you simply have to meet the normal standards for acceptable clinical trials to prove that what you are saying, and what you are selling, is not a total load of rubbish and the FDA will free your voice to preach to anyone that will listen. I suggest you quit complaining about the FDA tying your hands and do the work that is necessary to prove your point and clear your good name.

Me
Nice rant you had there Dave, you know I think that some sassafrass root tea is just what you need as you seem to have missed your spring cleaning, plus a burping when it is over.

Oh, and Dave did you know that every patent medicine in use today is based on the work of naturopathic doctors who discovered herb which not only relieves the symptom but helps cure the patient. Rather then treating the symptom as a disease the rest of the patients life while they get more diseases some of them from the side effects of he meds they are on.

The FDA Proves the drug works huh?
Even today MD’s treat only symptoms and never the person. Take the disease they call high blood pressure, for which they put you on an FDA approved high blood pressure medication. Here is how crazy this is Dave, no matter how long you are on the medication it does not change or cure the problem. How is that you ask? Take yourself off the medication and your high blood pressure is right back where it was possibly even higher. And Warning: there may even be the rebound effect where coming off the medication could kill you, nuts.

Since you do start off not knowing your subject Dave here is a definition of Naturopathic Medicine to help you out.
Naturopathic medicine defined:
Naturopathic medicine is a branch of medicine in which a variety of natural medicines and treatments are used to heal illness. It uses a system of medical diagnosis and therapeutics based on the patterns of chaos and organization in nature. It is founded on the premise that people are naturally healthy, and that healing can occur through removing obstacles to a cure and by stimulating the body’s natural healing abilities. The foundations of health in natural medicine are diet, nutrition, homeopathy, physical manipulation, stress management, and exercise.
Naturopaths are general practitioners who treat a wide variety of illnesses. They believe in treating the “whole person”—the spirit as well as the physical body—and emphasize preventive care. They often recommend changes in diet and lifestyle to enhance the health of their patients.

Allopathic Medications and Techniques
Since you were having so much fun with Naturopathic techniques here are some used by MD’s and surprise, surprise, most of them are still in use today Dave. The allopaths used deadly techniques and medicines like excessive bleeding and using baking flour and white lead paint as a treatment for severe burns. They used a technique called Blistering using hot pokers, plasters or vitriol sulphuric acid to distract you from your pain and disease (see below). Mercury, if you had constipation why use anything else? Oh, and how about those mercury side effects Dave, chest pains, lung problems, violent muscle spasms, psychotic reactions, suicidal tendencies, testicular twisting and anal implosion. Gee, sounds like just another day at the doctors office huh Dave, ha, ha, ha. And of course the majority of everything I just mentioned above are still in use today.

BLISTERING:
Another popular early medical practice was called “blistering”. Blistering was used as a treatment for anything from a fever or arthritis to serious illnesses such as cholera. Blistering did not actually cure any disease or ailment, but many Victorian doctors believed in its effectiveness. This is because the pain of being blistered caused the patient to focus on a new pain, taking their minds away from the more serious pain from which they suffered.

Dr. Benjamin Rush, M.D. a signer of the Declaration of Independence was charged with “remorseless bleeding” of his patients more then once. Later in life when he became ill and required a physician that treatment killed him after being bled and fed calomel.

Here is a recent beauty from the 1940’s for what ails you Dave. They use a mallet to hammer a 10-inch-long ice pick through your eye socket and into your scull. Then once in your head they wiggle it around shredding part of your brain. Called a lobotomy you won’t be depressed any more, well I guess not? Rosemary Kennedy sister of the president was given one and 70,000 other poor souls, Rosemary was permanently incapacitated by her lobotomy.
Side effects, blunting of the personality, apathy, irresponsibility these effects were common. Then there were also distractibility, childishness, facetiousness, lack of tact or discipline, permanently incapacitated and post-operative incontinence.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Lobotomy_side_effects_5_to_10_years_later#ixzz1SwKRVnLu

Of course we all know that they introduced the world to major needle opium, morphine, cocane and speed addictions through the scientific refinement process. Though lately the street addicts are outnumbered by those addicted pain and psychiatric medications, the doctors and pharmaceutical companies know a good deal when they see one.

Dave, I saved the most contemptible, despicable and loathsome for last it makes all the others seem tame in comparison. For over 60 years babies were subjected to operations with no anesthetic for pain only curare to stop them from screaming and moving. This ghastly practice would probably still be in use today if it were not for an open heart operation performed on the Jeffrey Lawson baby in 1985. Their baby had holes cut into his neck, another hole in his chest, his ribs pried apart and various other operation techniques performed while totally aware but paralyzed. He went into shock that night after the operation and died 5 days later. His mother discovered what had happened to her baby and with a great deal of effort, research and the help of the media brought most of this horrendous practice to a halt. Obviously this barbaric practice could and should have been stopped long before Jeffrey’s ordeal, (see ‘Standards of Practice and the Pain of Premature Infants, by Jill R. Lawson).

Believe me Dave I could go on and on with this kind of insanity but we would be getting into a book not a comment. The FDA’s closing its doors would be a blessing to this country and humanity and I expect to see it in the not to distant future.

“gdledford is an email address to someone with the first name Dave if you have another one I’ll use it.”

That someone out there uses the handle gdledford and has an email address of Dave does not mean that that person is me. My preferred handle was already taken on WordPress when I created my account so I used one that wasn’t.

“Me (let me skip to the chase here)
Vaccinations are business and profit driven and have never been scientifically proven to work.”

First, lets address the inconsistency of what you claim in this sentence and what you quoted immediately following and told me to look at for proof of your claim. You claimed that vaccines were never scientifically proven to *work*. Yet all the quotes you followed up with were people arguing that they weren’t properly tested for safety or side effects. This has nothing to do with and is unrelated to whether or not they were tested to work. So your cited quotes have nothing to do with your claim. However, that being said, one of the people you quoted, Dr. Goldman, an adamant proponent of removing thimerosal from vaccines, also had these choice things to say:

“The vaccination programs for vaccines developed in the late 1800s and the early 1900s for highly infectious and/or deadly diseases (e.g., the vaccines for smallpox, rabies, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, and measles) have been very successful in minimizing the short- and long-term risks of Americans’ developing these diseases when Americans are exposed to the indigenous/“ native”/“wild” disease strains of the organisms that can cause these diseases.

Moreover, since persons bitten by a rabid animal almost always die, post-bite vaccination for rabies is truly lifesaving.”

Now, I wouldn’t want to mislead people into thinking that Dr. Goldman is a fan of all modern vaccines. He has this to say about some of them:

“For some vaccines, there is a clear and growing body of peer-reviewed published evidence that, for these vaccines, the costs, the adverse-outcome risks, lack of effectiveness and/or the costs of even the reported adverse-outcomes outweigh the theoretical benefits from widespread vaccination with those vaccines.”

In truth, Dr. Goldman appears to support vaccines that actually work, not support those that don’t, and wants mercury removed from all of them. I don’t disagree with his position at all.

You on the other hand want to throw out the baby with the bath water and declare all vaccines horrible. Like I said in an earlier post, this is just another case of you being an extremist and detached from reality. And in order to justify your position you make claims that they have never been tested to work, ever. Then you turn around in another post and say there is a claim that Dr. Salk used unethical methods to test one of his vaccines. So I guess I’m not really surprised that you can jump through the sort of logical hoops necessary to delude yourself into believing that you can both claim that vaccines have never been tested for efficacy and that they have been tested unethically at the same time.

“Nice rant you had there Dave, you know I think that some sassafrass root tea is just what you need”

Sorry, that’s carcinogenic. I think I’ll avoid that.

“Oh, and Dave did you know that every patent medicine in use today is based on the work of naturopathic doctors who discovered herb which not only relieves the symptom but helps cure the patient. ”

Willow bark tea is used to treat a symptom (pain), it doesn’t cure the patient. And although Willow Bark tea gave rise to aspirin, the two other most common non-narcotic pain relievers, acetominophen and ibuprofen, have never been found in any herb on this planet. They were both created in a lab specifically for the purpose they are used for.

Not to mention your own arthritis medicine you sell on your web site only treats the symptoms of arthritis, it does not cure the disease nor does it stop its progression. So, again, you are throwing around absolutes where plenty of exceptions that disprove the absolute exist.

“Even today MD’s treat only symptoms and never the person.”

I could have swore that when I went to see my doctor, she said I had certain risk factors for developing metabolic syndrome. Then she told me I needed to exercise more, loose some of the weight, and eat healthier. She didn’t give me a single drug, and she didn’t try to blister me, bleed me, poke me, and any of the other really absurd things you listed (some of which may have happened in the past, but then again, NDs have their own skeletons in their past, so I’m not really concerned with what mistakes were made in the past). Like I said, you throw around absolutes where absolutes simply don’t fit. Your break from reality is pretty complete. Have fun with that.

You gdledford
“gdledford is an email address to someone with the first name Dave if you have another one I’ll use it.”
That someone out there uses the handle gdledford and has an email address of Dave does not mean that that person is me. My preferred handle was already taken on WordPress when I created my account so I used one that wasn’t.
“Me (let me skip to the chase here)
Vaccinations are business and profit driven and have never been scientifically proven to work.”

You
First, lets address the inconsistency of what you claim in this sentence and what you quoted immediately following and told me to look at for proof of your claim. You claimed that vaccines were never scientifically proven to *work*. Yet all the quotes you followed up with were people arguing that they weren’t properly tested for safety or side effects. This has nothing to do with and is unrelated to whether or not they were tested to work. So your cited quotes have nothing to do with your claim. However, that being said, one of the people you quoted, Dr. Goldman, an adamant proponent of removing thimerosal from vaccines, also had these choice things to say:
“The vaccination programs for vaccines developed in the late 1800s and the early 1900s for highly infectious and/or deadly diseases (e.g., the vaccines for smallpox, rabies, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, and measles) have been very successful in minimizing the short- and long-term risks of Americans’ developing these diseases when Americans are exposed to the indigenous/“ native”/“wild” disease strains of the organisms that can cause these diseases.
Moreover, since persons bitten by a rabid animal almost always die, post-bite vaccination for rabies is truly lifesaving.”
Now, I wouldn’t want to mislead people into thinking that Dr. Goldman is a fan of all modern vaccines. He has this to say about some of them:
“For some vaccines, there is a clear and growing body of peer-reviewed published evidence that, for these vaccines, the costs, the adverse-outcome risks, lack of effectiveness and/or the costs of even the reported adverse-outcomes outweigh the theoretical benefits from widespread vaccination with those vaccines.”
In truth, Dr. Goldman appears to support vaccines that actually work, not support those that don’t, and wants mercury removed from all of them. I don’t disagree with his position at all.
You on the other hand want to throw out the baby with the bath water and declare all vaccines horrible. Like I said in an earlier post, this is just another case of you being an extremist and detached from reality. And in order to justify your position you make claims that they have never been tested to work, ever. Then you turn around in another post and say there is a claim that Dr. Salk used unethical methods to test one of his vaccines. So I guess I’m not really surprised that you can jump through the sort of logical hoops necessary to delude yourself into believing that you can both claim that vaccines have never been tested for efficacy and that they have been tested unethically at the same time.

Me
I never said throw them out, I am saying they do not work, anyone who wants to get a vaccination that is their “choice.” Have all the vaccinations you want gdledford just don’t tell me or anyone else we have to have one. And if anyone asks my opinion I will say that allopathic medicine is based on science and vaccinations have not passed a basic controlled scientific study. I will also tell them to read Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn quote that you seem to have missed.

“There has never been a single vaccine in this country that has ever been submitted to a controlled scientific study. They never took a group of 100 people who were candidates for a vaccine, gave 50 of them a vaccine and left the other 50 alone, and measured the outcome. And since that’s never been done, that means if you want to be kind, you will call vaccines an unproven remedy. If you want to be accurate you will call people who give vaccines quacks.”
Robert S. Mendelsohn MD, Pediatrician, Professor of Pediatrics, University of Illinios, College of Medicine

“Nice rant you had there Dave, you know I think that some sassafrass root tea is just what you need”
Sorry, that’s carcinogenic. I think I’ll avoid that.
“Oh, and Dave did you know that every patent medicine in use today is based on the work of naturopathic doctors who discovered herb which not only relieves the symptom but helps cure the patient. ”
Willow bark tea is used to treat a symptom (pain), it doesn’t cure the patient. And although Willow Bark tea gave rise to aspirin, the two other most common non-narcotic pain relievers, acetominophen and ibuprofen, have never been found in any herb on this planet. They were both created in a lab specifically for the purpose they are used for.

Me
White Willow Bark herb treats the symptom and the whole person gdledford you should have looked that up. Trace the science back and you will see the foot up they got from White Willow Bark used as a herbal treatment.

You
Not to mention your own arthritis medicine you sell on your web site only treats the symptoms of arthritis, it does not cure the disease nor does it stop its progression. So, again, you are throwing around absolutes where plenty of exceptions that disprove the absolute exist.

Me
No, you are the one with absolutes. You want me to somehow fit into your little one dimensional thinking and I won’t go there. So again, to set you strait gdledford; I never said I would not treat a symptom; I treat the whole person and by definition that includes the symptom, do you get it now? Are you having a reading problem gdledford and seeing things that are not there because you want them to be there?

You
“Even today MD’s treat only symptoms and never the person.”
I could have swore that when I went to see my doctor, she said I had certain risk factors for developing metabolic syndrome. Then she told me I needed to exercise more, loose some of the weight, and eat healthier.

Me
You could have gone to your next door neighbor and gotten the same prescription gdledford.

You
She didn’t give me a single drug, and she didn’t try to blister me, bleed me, poke me, and any of the other really absurd things you listed (some of which may have happened in the past, but then again, NDs have their own skeletons in their past, so I’m not really concerned with what mistakes were made in the past).

Me
Show me all those skeletons gdledford?

Me
”I’m not really concerned with what mistakes were made in the past,” that is what you said gdledford.

Let me get this strait gdledford, what was done to those children who were operated on with no anesthetic until 1985, that does not move you to abhorrence and indignation toward allopathic medicine? And I suppose you think it is just ducky that Mr. Salk used to go into mental institutions and experiment on the helpless patients there? That hammering a spike into 70,000 heads is just an absurd mistake which makes all those suffering dying people just collateral damage. You missed your time, place and commanders gdledford, time 1930’s and 40’s, place Nazi Germany, your commanders, Dr. Josef Rudolf Mengele and Adolf Hitler.

You
Like I said, you throw around absolutes where absolutes simply don’t fit. Your break from reality is pretty complete. Have fun with that.

Me
I admit I am a long way from perfect gdledford but you, I am not sure what to make of you? The reality I have a tough time dealing with gdledford is when I have to read your callous, weak and pathetic ramblings. I think I will stop reading them I have better things to do.

I’m not surprised. Back in the depression, a restaurant got into trouble for putting bacon greased blotter paper into their sandwiches. Now, everyone’s doing it. What can consumers do? EAT REAL, EAT LESS. Thanks for the article.

Hi Dave,
I saw this one today and just had to tell you because it dovetails so nicely with what we have been talking about. Here is your top hero of allopathic medicine and the polio vaccine twisting his morals and his medical ethics to suite his science. I have to say as a Naturopathic Doctor that this guy is a real peach and how about them apple’s, Dave.

“According to the Associated Press, Dr. Jonas Salk co-authored a clinical trial that “injected experimental flu vaccine in male patients at a state insane asylum in Ypsilanti, Mich., then exposed them to flu several months later.” The victims of this medical experiment were described as “senile and debilitated,” meaning that obtaining their rational consent to participate in such experiments would have been impossible. And that means Dr. Jonas Salk — one of the most highly-worshipped figures throughout modern medicine — was conducting this trial in violation of medical ethics and in violation of the law.”

Well, being in the food industry for close to 30 years as a supplier, distributor agent and importer, I have heard many things and it dismays me to no end that if it doesn’t kill you, they will use it. Anthony Bourdain in his book medium raw discusses how bleach is actually acceptable in the production of ground beef to destroy pathogens. He goes on to say that the softened regulations on what actually goes into ground beef is what previously used in animal food. Kobe Beef hotdogs that sell for over $9 each have no trace of the actual edible cuts of beef. So how does it warrant
that expense? Marketing. Same as those Angus beef patties. It’s all the useless fat with added fillers and seasonings. There is room for a $15 burger that actually comes from edible beef. In fact marketed as real food could actually fetch $100 in New York city.

This is (unfortunately) a very misleading article. Cellulose IS considered a component of dietary fiber and ‘wood’ is only a minor source of it. ANY plant you eat will have some level of cellulose because it is a component of the cell wall around every plant cell, so any fruit, vegetable, grain, and tuber will have cellulose (unless it is removed in processing.) Cellulose is not digested by humans, although it is fermented by bacteria in the digestive tract, and is thus a vital component of remaining healthy. The article writer seems to be arguing that wood cellulose is bad without realizing that cellulose from wood pulp is pretty much exactly the same molecule as cellulose in a stick of celery. So, I say “meh”. Fiber is fiber, and provided it is being provided in a safe manner, cellulose from wood pulp that is being safely grown is not something I will lose any sleep over.
For any non-believers, here is a link to an explanation of dietary fiber:http://en.wikipedia.org/wi​ki/Dietary_fiber

***Now before you flame me, personally I agree that there are A LOT of bad things being done with processed food, but I consider adding cellulose to be a very minor concern compared to adding extra sugar and hydrogenated oils, among other things. (And, I might add, that poorly researched articles do not help the situation, when the public should be focused on less reactionary issues.)
I highly recommend that everyone who can plant a garden, I certainly have one in my backyard. And if you don’t want to eat it, don’t buy it. That sends a clear message to the people in charge of the bottom-line in these companies.

So Rook figures it’s OK to dupe people into thinking they are eating real food as long as it’s in small doses. I kind of disagree. The use of wood pulp as an edible though indigestible binder/extender needs to be exposed for the crime it is before the envelope gets pushed further. If the food conglomerates can fat away with that, who knows what is next. Arguments that claim there are worse crimes does nothing but put corporate misdeeds on scales of 1-10. Those numbers closest to 10 being the ones we should concern ourselves with. That is utter hogwash. It is typical of the American psyche that ‘small’ anything need not be paid attention to. When in actual fact if one were to combine all of the small negatives in the production of food by the conglomerates we’d see some very large problems.

If an item is being sold as ‘food’, that is entirely what we should expect of it – food period.

Hi ROFL,
I will be surprised if you actually read this but I will take a little time to see if I can help you. I have had people crying when I told them some of the atrocious things modern medicine had done and is still doing. You have to keep in mind that you have been fed only one side of this all your life so you could say you have been brain washed thoroughly. So I am going to go easy and give you just one example that was buried in amongst that exchange between gdledford and I. Then one very clear example of what I have been doing as a doctor of naturopathic medicine for over 20 years without one complaint ever filed against me.

Modern Medicine
For over 60 years babies were subjected to operations with no anesthetic for pain only curare to stop them from screaming and moving. Why, because doctors assumed that they could not feel pain even though an experiment had been performed that proved with out a doubt that yes they do indeed feel pain. This ghastly practice would probably still be in use today if it were not for an open heart operation performed on the Jeffrey Lawson baby in 1985. Their baby had holes cut into his neck, another hole in his chest, his ribs pried apart and various other operation techniques performed while totally aware but paralyzed. He went into shock that night after the operation and died 5 days later. His mother discovered what had happened to her baby and with a great deal of effort, research and the help from the media brought most of this horrendous practice to a halt. Obviously this barbaric practice could and should have been stopped long before Jeffrey’s ordeal, (see ‘Standards of Practice and the Pain of Premature Infants, by Jill R. Lawson).

Naturopathic Medicine
These short videos are a very clear example of what naturopathic medicine can do for someone who is very sick.

Simply put……if we (humans) were meant to eat trees, our oral cavities would be donned with teeth equipped to tear into such in its fully erect state. On the other hand carrots, celery, apples, etc which are also fibrous (celllulose) are appropriate for our human teeth to chew. Vegetables are also suited to supply our bodies with with necessary nutrients, wood fiber is not. This really is a no-brainer…..those of you who wish to subject your body to abuse and neglect have at it, for those who wish to treat your body as God intended you’re with me!!!! Don’t eat the crap!

The foods we decide to eat are some of the most important things on this planet. Our food is our fuel…so important. After watching “The Future of Food”, I’m just glad that these things are coming to light and the information is being made available to the actual people who consume this “food”. I will eat apples all day long…but I refuse to eat fillers. Thanks for sharing! Oh…and Doc Blake: you’re awesome! 🙂

My only problem with what they have done is originally they refined the food taking out the fiber and everything else of any food value. Then they put back what was taken out but now in another form and their only reasons for doing so are they were forced by the government or they are after more money.

They are forced by the government because the low food value made the product dangerous (diseases like pellagra and beriberi). Thus the BS word Enriched they use to announce that the product does have some value. What they don’t say is the vitamin(s) they added back in are made from a petrochemical process like B1 made from Coal tar derivatives, hydrochloric acid; acetonitrole with ammonia (check out ref, your vitamins at home are from the same source). They wouldn’t want to give you anything of real value that’s made by the hand of Mother Nature, something you might actually benefit from as that is not the corporate mission. The fiber they are putting back in no matter what the source I suspect is to pad the product and remove more expensive ingredients so they can get more miles and dollars from it?

There is fiber in almost all our whole foods and it is very valuable to us because it stimulates our bowel to eliminate waste. Get enough fiber and you should eliminate 2 to 3 times a day which is optimally healthy and can help you avoid colorectal cancer. But the way they have done this, taking out what was already there then adding it back in is crazy like a fox, as you can easily see.

When you look at what they have done and are doing you would suspect that the humans behind the corporate label are completely sociopathic and could not give a dam about you or your families. This is especially true of those who know better, the USDA, HHS, and the FDA who supposedly control this whole ungodly mess. You only have to look around you at your family members and fellow shoppers to see the results of all their profit making manipulations. Doc Blake

Ref: Should Your Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Be Made from
100% FOOD or Industrial Chemicals? Dr. Robert Thiel

I don’t have the time to read every post here but I’m wondering if anybody has mentioned that the Toco Bell lawsuit was bogus? Also, can anyone give me some solid evidence that cellulose based products pose a health risk? Does anybody besides me check out the facts before believing?

Hi Steve look about 4 posts up from yours and you will see what I have to say about the cellulose. It is just one more straw they are loading on our backs, I guess they just want to see how much we can take?

I have nothing against science that is honest. But when they do things that are not honest and people get sick and die then I do have a problem with science and everyone should.

They use petrochemical farming methods, GMO’s, insecticides, herbicides, irradiation, pasteurization, emulsification, genetic modification, the over use of steroids and antibiotics in the animals. Then before it gets to us they over refine it, add aspartame, MSG, artificial colors, sodium nitrite, hydrogenated corn oils, high-fructose corn syrup, acesulfame K, BHA, BHT, olestra, Potassium Bromate, Propyl Gallate, sulfites, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Yellow 6, senomyx, and bisphenol A and BPA are everywhere in our food chain what do they think we are?

We wonder why babies have 300 toxins in their umbilical blood (EWG 2009) and autism is epidemic in children. Why 70% of Americans are overweight and over 35% obese? Why 65 autoimmune diseases 7 years ago and now 150 and with many up to 100 sub-diseases? Why you can get an autoimmune disease by taking medication, by have a car accident, by losing your job or by starting a new exercise program, etc? Why we lost 15 million to cancer since the war and search for a cure in 1971? Why we have of over 200 forms of cancer but not one has a cure? Why they say quality of life is improved when 50% of the population has an incurable disease? Why modern medicine says they do not know the cause of almost every incurable disease? Why modern medicine has not cured one disease on over a half century? Medical science has hundreds of vaccines in the development phase right now maybe one of then is a vaccine to make us numb to this deadly crap they feed us?

Below is one of the main reasons why modern medicine by design has not cured one disease in over half a century, especially autoimmune diseases.

Market Headlines
The Global Market For Autoimmune Disease Treatments Is Estimated To Be At $37.84 Billion In 2009, And Is Growing At A CAGR Of 12.7% From 2009 To 2014 To Reach An Estimated $68.81 Billion In 2014

New report provides detailed analysis of the Healthcare and Medical market
Published on September 29, 2009
by Press Office
(Companiesandmarkets.com and OfficialWire)

Message above on lignons & engineered trees is an eye-opener.
I would suspect that what they’re “slinging” in our schools is even more saturated with garbage.
GD Ledford, I grew up in small town WI, our county has more cancer deaths than any other in the state. Right now we are seeing many pass away beween the ages of 50-62. Every year or so you get a nice letter in the local news with a “pat on the head.” Read the,intelligent, informed statement form the public health nurse at http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/ “Cancer Rankings Remind Citizens to be Healthy.” Population in my city was 1,181. We’ve buried 6 that I went to school with in the last year (i’m 54) & there were several more older victims. I now live 14 miles from my childhood home & the 16 yr old girl next door has leukemia. On & on it goes, where it stops…

This is really misleading. And I think you really need to think about rewriting this article. It makes it appear all cellulose is bad even when you add wood fiber after.

Not all cellulose is bad, and is actually important to our health.

“Sunflower seeds are rich source of cellulose. Insufficient cellulose quantity in a daily ration could result in significant health problems. Meanwhile cellulose recommended daily norm for organism is 30 g, most people don’t eat even 15 g. It can cause problems with the digestive system and could cause accumulation of toxins in bowels. Eating sunflower seeds you provide your organism with rich cellulose supply. Thereby you reduce a possibility of cancer diseases, lower cholesterol level and support organism defense processes.”

I’m not saying we should be eating wood pulp. But they way that is written there are going to be people who think all cellulose is bad. That is called irresponsible journalism.

WOW! WHen I first read this article I was upset and scared. I recently started eating a mainly plant based diet because of all of the migraines and severe allergies I’ve been experiencing, and Im glad I’ve done that! But, my husband and stepchildren aren’t completeIy on board and still eat alot of the stuff listed in the article and comments. I think the reason people are upset about the cellulose is simply that we(consumers) are not being informed about what we are eating. No one likes to be lied to. WHen we buy something, we want to know EXACTLY what it is and why its being used so that we can make an informed decision-do we want to eat this or not? Instead of people(businesses) being completely upfront about what they are using and why- they lie to us and that makes us mad. If I said Im making this natural & organic smoothie for you but it turns out green so,im gonna add some red coloring to it so that it will look pretty, you might be okay with that. But if I say it’s all natural and organic and you find out later that I added in the color you’d be mad.

That is all we ask for Melisa but it seems to be beyond big business to just be honest with us. And once they got their claws in the government it has been open season on the truth to the point where what they are doing is killing thousands and will kill millions before it is over. The ingredients that cause obesity are just one area, corn oil, corn syrup, soy oil are the main ones and they know it and have known this all along.

Are you going to correct the article with regards to cellulose? This, “Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured to different lengths for functionality” is completely misleading. It is not just found in wood pulp but also found in regular food products and is actually part of a healthy diet.

Yes using wood pulp to put in extra isn’t a good thing. But your article condemns all cellulose in a completely misleading way.

While I see the merit in being shocked and upset to discover that 30% of what you’re eating isn’t actually food, at the same time, people have asked food makers to provide certain nutritional values in foods that either aren’t naturally occurring or can’t be achieved without scientific intervention. Not to mention, that the portions of food people expect and are receiving from restaurants at any given time have increased by 30-40% BY DEMAND. So sure, you could eat the same amount and expect to be charged more for what cellulose is no longer filling, or you can expect to consume it knowing that the most harm it does to your body is that you pass it out in waste.

I’m genuinely offended by people who I see stuff chemical crap into their faces each day, turn around and complain when the food they thought was real turns out to be processed in some way. Wake up and smell the current events. If you want to eat “real” food, shop in the organic section. But don’t come complaining when your food spoils after a day or two and you’ve paid twice as much for it. There are certain things in food, that for the sake of your health, is a great idea to cut back on (fat, sugar, salt), and enriched foods to consider eating (omega 3, fiber, protein, calcium, vitamins, etc). Cellulose is just waste fiber. It won’t and hasn’t hurt you.

You left out just a few things so let me help you out here K. You will not find all of this poison in one form of junk food meats but keep eating and you will aspartame, MSG, artificial colors, sodium nitrite, hydrogenated fats, acesulfame K, BHA, BHT, olestra, bromate, sulfites and senomyx. One of the worst is rBGH developed by Monsanto a steroid that forces cows to grow fat fast (know any humans growing fat fast?). To get synthetic steriod rBGH, Monsanto inserted a gene into the DNA of E. coli bacterium and “hocus pocus” rBGH. Are they nuts K what do they think we are?

Here is a brake down of what some of this poison does to you K and as fifty percent of the population on is on a drug for an incurable disease I think we have the right to ask the food industry to do better. They could syphon off a little of their excessive profits into researching and finding non-toxic replacements for many of these ingredients that have been out there causing disease for years?

6. Artificial Sweeteners (Aspartame, Acesulfame K and Saccharin)—behavioral problems, hyperactivity, allergies, and possibly carcinogenic. The government cautions against the use of any artificial sweetener by children and pregnant women. Anyone with PKU (phenylketonuria—a problem of phenylalanine, an amino acid, metabolism) should not use aspartame (Nutrasweet).

8. Preservatives (BHA, BHT, EDTA, etc.)—allergic reactions, hyperactivity, possibly cancer-causing; BHT may be toxic to the nervous system and the liver and the possible cause of a lowered spirm count in all living things world wide.

It actually makes them allocate more of their energy to milk production, not to their bodies, thus increasing milk production.

2. It is identical to the natural hormone – rBST is identical to BST which cows produce naturally.

The ONLY difference is rBST is made by bacteria. But structurally, it’s identical to what cows make naturally. Just like so many of our drugs, aka insulin, are made by bacteria but identical to our own because it uses our genes to create it. Put rBST and BST into two different vials & ask a lab to tell you which is which– they can’t.

3. You can inject yourself with a syringe full of rBST (thousands of times more than you’d ever find in milk) and what happens?

4. They acutally TRIED injecting rBST into children with growth abnormalities– hoping it would make them grow faster. It didn’t. Because primates cannot bind rBST.

5. Even IF rBST was harmful– it isn’t found in milk.

rBST is a hormone, thus it goes into the cell to initiate transcription of proteins — how useful would it be if it floated free and ended up in the milk? not at all. it’s used up by the cows.

Only a tiny fraction of BST is found in milk– in all cows. The milk between an rBST cow and a “natural” cow are the same– you can’t tell the difference.

6. Animal welfare issues:
My biggest concern with rBST would be from an animal welfare standpoint. Is it stressful to induce these cows to produce more milk? I don’t know, it has shown to increase mastitis and decrease body condition so I’d want to learn more before feeling comfortable with saying rBST is perfectly humane.

There are a lot of lies out there when it comes to our food…. look at how many people think “organic” = “better welfare for animals”— then talk to the vets who have had to remove eyes because they can’t use antibiotics to treat pink eye, or who have had to perform surgeries on animals without anesthesia because of organic’s rules…..

I see, thank you Sara I was misled by the name recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH is also known as rBST).

You say that the hormone does not come through in the milk (see studies below that say it does and causes diseases) and yet the EU has banned all milk from the USA unless labeled (no rGBH). Also 20% of our meat comes from culled dairy cows so that be another way this hormone enters our food chain.

As far as eye infections and other diseases they suffer from the Vets and farmers should research naturopathic medical combinations that could easily solve that and other diseases and they are organic. One combination for pink eye would be Bayberry bark, Eyebright herb, Goldenseal root and Red Raspberry leaves.

That is interesting about the study where they injected the bovine hormone rBST or rGBH into children. Did they do any follow-up on these children to see if there were any negative effects caused to their health? Because as you can see below the bovine growth hormone has been shown by scientific studies to be dangerous to humans?

Here are a few studies that say that the hormone comes through in the milk and this hormone can cause cancers.

IGF-1 levels in milk may be at a high enough level to affect human health:

I don’t see why this is an issue…… it sounds like another case of fear-mongering.

if anyone here eats fruits or vegetables, then they already eat cellulose.

Remembering back to my basic biochemistry class…. Cellulose is a pollysaccharide sugar found in plants– it’s a chain of multiple glucose molecules. Just like amylose is glucose stored in animal tissue, but the bonds are different and our enzymes cannot break them down (ruminants can) which is perfectly healthy & natural. Yes, it occurs in wood, but also in salad, apples, carrots, etc……

How is making food with less fat and more fiber a bad thing? Most americans are overweight and could benefit from this.

I really doubt americans are going to start starving to death from a lack of calories any time soon.

Fear mongering that is a good one Sara. When was the last time you were in public and had a good look around you at the obesity epidemic that is walking by. Many people think it is their fault that they should control themselves; I am not one of them. I think that the majority of what is happening is going on in the board rooms of the large food companies and our government offices where our food is changed for profit and shelf life and if obesity is an epidemic “let them take medical drugs for that.”

You think that we are just alarmists regarding what is being done to our food by the food companies, chemical companies, the FDA and USDA? That adding wood to our food is just fine without considering what the public might think, anyway as you say, “I really doubt americans are going to start starving to death from a lack of calories any time soon.”

Do you know Sara how the rGBH synthetic steroid growth hormone that is banned in all of Europe and almost all industrialized countries got approved in the USA? I call what is going on below, “Hitler type Fascism’ in its worst form. Where the government and business work together hand in hand without considering what happens to the people who eat the food or what they would think if they knew what was going on?

Another example of the Government-industry revolving door is Margaret Miller, “In order for the FDA to determine if Monsanto’s growth hormones were safe or not, Monsanto was required to submit a scientific report on that topic. Margaret Miller, one of Monsanto’s researchers put the report together. Shortly before the report submission, Miller left Monsanto and was hired by the FDA [as deputy director of the Office of New Animal Drugs]. Her first job for the FDA was to determine whether or not to approve the report she wrote for Monsanto. In short, Monsanto approved its own report. Assisting Miller was another former Monsanto researcher, Susan Sechen” [22]. Here [23] you can read Robert Cohen’s testimony before FDA on the subject of rBGH including the disclosure that, while at the FDA and in response to increasing sickness in cows on the stuff, Miller increased the amount of antibiotics that farmers can legally give cows by 100 times. From the article: Labeling Issues, Revolving Doors, rBGH, Bribery and Monsanto, http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title…rBGH…Monsanto

Holy hell. There are so many morons commenting on this. Cellulose is in every single plant, fruit, or vegetable you have probably ever eaten.
It is NOT bad for you. It is used as a binder to prevent things from FALLING APART.
It is used in sauces that typically had an absolute ton of fats in it as traditional binders, such as mayo. Cutting out a large chunk of the fat from mayo and replacing it with cellulose can cut down your fat intake.

Just because possibly corrupt companies misuse something, doesn’t mean it is bad for you.
Saying that is like saying water is bad for you because people inject water in to meat to fatten it up. Pure lunacy and ignorance.

God, even the “MSG is bad” nutjobs are here. MSG isn’t bad for you, it is as bad for you as salt or glutamates are.
Just because some people stuff their food with it doesn’t make it bad for you.
People who get ill from things with MSG in them are taking allergic reactions to the glutamates, not MSG itself.
Those people would get ill just as much by eating green-heavy veg.
Sad part is a so-called doctor up there is spreading this nonsense. Don’t quit your day job son. You’re a joke to the industry.

This article is complete misinformation. Not surprising that it is more American paranoia nonsense.
Attainable Sustainable, you are also now removed from my subscriptions for posting this absolute drivel.

Yup. Most of the people here are probably not educated about basic chemistry or physiology.

Cellulose = bad? Then you better stop eating fruits and vegetables!

I don’t think these people are morons. I think they just aren’t educated.

Look at how many people buy organic (which is a marketing label and nothing more), thinking they’re helping improve animal welfare– then talk to veterinarians who remove cow’s eyes instead of treating them with an antibiotic, or perform surgeries without anesthesia on animals because of organic’s ridiculous restriction on medications for animals. How is that good for animal welfare????

This is why we need more science education– so people can be informed about their food, make their own choices, and avoid scare-tactics like this ignorant article.

You are so hot to vent your anger that you did not consider your audience, with the exception of a few people here you are preaching to the converted, in other words you just wasted your breath and our time. We obviously know what fiber is and where it is found in foods. Part of the problem (if you can think this deeply in your pissy little mental state) is they took the original fiber that was in the food out in the refining process and now they are putting it back in using wood fiber plus, da. Also fiber is indigestible so that again degrades what was already a degraded refined product even further of its nutritional value which is “bad for you” (your words). And like adding water to meat to add more weight (your example) and bulk by adding wood fiber to food it is a rip-off of our hard earned money.

As far as MSG goes Eatme, what I said about it is common knowledge, if you have seen more recent studies that suggest otherwise then where are your references? Without references Eatme, what you said about MSG is at the extreme end of antidotal and again wastes our time? If MSG is so good for us as you say, then why does the food industry hide its name behind, “Natural Flavorings?” Below are four scientific studies linking MSG with obesity, something I didn’t mention in my comment.

Quit my day job, ha, I am a semi-retired N.D. with twenty years of clinical practice. And as far as my being your son, as I said I am semi retired? And if what you have said so far is any indication of your intelligence (we know about your anger) then you wouldn’t know naturopathic medicine if it fell on your head.

Well it is time to train ourselves and everyone to not trust processed food or food manufactures…to eat local fresh food in season, stay way from fast food, and when you dine out ask what food they use, stick to dining with places you can trust.

http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/547cellulose.html
And those of us who are commenting are not idiots. We don’t believe wood Cellulose should be added to processed food…the plant cellulose in fruits, vegetables, and grains is OK…We can not digest cellulose, it is fiber, but we don’t want wood in our food…for any reason….

Hold up!
“Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured…” ( _is_ –> _from_ ) and back it up.
This definition is a direct misrepresentation of fact, and leads your readers to think _all_ cellulose _is_ ‘virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured…’. Then your article pulls the reader to think every use of cellulose is ‘wood pulp’. Come on!
Cellulose _is_ in ALL plants; it makes up the cell wall. And, yes, wood pulp is mostly cellulose.
But, your article does not make the argument, that the industry is sourcing cellulose (mostly or at all) FROM wood pulp.
Do not confuse your reader, please.
I eat whole foods and agree mostly all processed foods are for the ‘tongue based diets’ full of ‘tasty’ fillers, to make money.
Please educate your reader, and make a proper argument.
We are all not reeds blowing in the wind.

Try reading Michael Poullan’s books, and Fast Food Nation. Those books are eye opening. All these additives and preservatives can’t be good for us. I grew up in the country and we always had a huge garden and chickens. My dad would even hunt for deer. After I went to college and got married, I started eating prepackaged stuff and McDonalds. I developed psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Can I blame my food choices entirely? No. I have no proof, but, I really don’t believe that eating junk helped me at all. I don’t eat that stuff
anymore. I trust Whole Foods, even though I know people call it Whole Paycheck. I read all labels and go as natural and organic as I can afford. It’s a sorry state of affairs that all the processed crap is cheaper than real food. We have to teach our kids about all of this. I’m a teacher, and my students know none of this. They all eat McDonalds and don’t even know it’s unhealthy. Hard to believe, but it’s true.

Anyone on here who thinks all the garbage put into our food is okay…eat it and suffer the consequences. For others of you that feel that MD’s know everything…blah, blah, woof, woof. My doctor put me on an anti-depressant with an anti-psychotic in it for the treatment of my fibromyalgia pain. First of all, he never told me it had an anti-psychotic in it, which alters the chemicals in your brain, as does the anti-depressant, so it is hard to get off of, but he did not tell me it would make me gain a ton of weight…it makes you crave carbs big time. After I went off of this poison, I felt so much better…did not really realize how tired, lethargic and non-emotional I really was…I knew I had lost interest in a lot of things, but when I got off of this crap, I was happy, had a lot more energy, etc. My doctor was actually pissed that I took myself off of it. I read up on the effects and benefits of Tart Cherry Juice for inflammation….it is used for Fibro pain, gout, arthritis, etc., and has anti-cancer properties and is good for your heart…and, it’s all natural, no chemicals, etc., and no side effects or worrying that it might not mix with other medications. My doctor actually laughed and was sarcastic and asked me if the cherry juice “cured my fibromyalgia”. To which I told him he didn’t need to be a smart ass and the poison he had me on didn’t “cure” it either. In fact, the cherry juice works great for my fibro pain, the swelling in my leg muscles, sleeplessness, etc. I have highly recommended it to others and, they too, report that it has helped them dramatically. Doctors love writing prescriptions…they make money off of every prescription they write along with refills…so if they get you hooked on something, they keep making money, even though it’s hurting you. The big drugs being pushed for pain now are Cymbalta, Savella and Lyrica…all anti-depressants. They are all relatively new to the market and, if you do the research, will find that these drugs have horrific side effects and are extremely addictive, not to mention that any anti-depressant will make someone who is not depressed, not really interested in too much, want to sleep alot, etc. Go to WebMD and look up any of these 3 drugs and click on drug reviews. These are actually reviews written by people who have/are currently using the drug. There are literally hundreds of reviews for the 3 I mentioned…it tells the age-range of the user, what the drug is being used for, how long they have been using it and their own comments about the drug. It’s scary…and to blindly trust your family physician is foolish. I insist he give me the name of whatever it is he wants to put me on and then he now knows I will research it and tell him if I want to try it or not. Also, I recently fractured my foot. My family doctor wanted a bone scan done. This consists of injecting radioactive material into the bloodstream and then letting is seep into your bones, which takes, on average, about 3 hours after the injection before they can even do the scan. When the lady was scheduling me for this test, she asked if I had ever had cancer, which I did when I was 30, but is was caught early, had minimal treatment and have been fine since then..she paused..I thought maybe if you have had cancer that they won’t do the scan because of the radioactive solution…NO, if you have had cancer…they want to scan YOUR WHOLE BODY!!!! Okay, this was almost 20 years ago that I had cancer…my foot is fractured, not my entire body..so why would I, or any rational thinking human, allow them to fill my whole body and bones with radioactive material?!?!?! I told them what they could do with their test. I am keeping my foot in a heavy sock in Sketchers shape up shoe laced tightly and it greatly reduces the pain and swelling in my foot…will do this until it is healed. There was absolutely no need to scan my whole body…it is dangerous and they also get a lot more money for scanning the whole body, versus a fractured foot. What I am saying is, don’t trust the medical community to tell you the truth about your food or anything else, for that matter. Do a lot of research. I’m not saying one should forgo the use of blood pressure meds or heart meds or thyroid meds…things that actually are needed to keep one from dying, but a lot of this other stuff is just mumbo jumbo and designed to keep you on the medical and money hamster wheel. Do I trust them to tell me what’s best for me to eat? Absolutely not..especially when my doctor prefers to keep me on a poisonous drug because it lines his pocket with money with no concern for my well being and actually is upset, instead of happy, that I found a natural way to greatly reduce my fibro pain. He’s just pissed that he doesn’t make money off of me taking Tart Cherry Juice. Research everything people!!! You know your body better than anyone else, including your doctor. Listen to it!!! Don’t take what anyone says as the gospel. I don’t do mammograms, either. I remember the time before mammograms ever came on the scene and I really don’t remember ever really hearing of any women with breast cancer. Now, that’s all you hear about…woman, after woman, with this horrible form of cancer. I fail to see how radiating a healthy woman’s breasts every year is good for her or her breast tissue. Even my doctor’s nurse said she won’t get them either…she’s an RN…plus the hormones in milk are unhealthy for women. Ever notice how young girls have such large breasts nowdays?!?!?! A friend of mine’s daughter actually had to undergo a breast reduction…she is thin everywhere but had enormous breasts…and she drank a lot of milk…not anymore! We are being deceived on so many levels…by food manufacturers, labels on food are a lie, doctors and the list goes on and on, too. Special K cereal has a commercial that challenges you to eat their cereal for so many weeks and lose weight!!! What a joke…read the ingredients! Not only does it have cane sugar in it…it also has high fructose corn syrup in it!!! The sugar double whammy, but yet they label it as a healthy cereal and one that will make you lose weight. Read the labels people. Don’t just go by what’s on the box…listing it as healthy, low fat or non fat, or will make you lose weight..all just gimmicks to get you to buy products. Granola bars are another joke…might as well be buying candy bars…all the sugar, chocolate, chocolate chips, peanut butter and other crap they put in these things….loaded with sugar…not healthy or slimming in the least!!! I said it earlier…read your labels and research ingredients in your food and also every medication. Look for natural cures when available, but make sure you know what’s in the “natural” cure. I highly recommend Tart Cherry Juice for anyone with any type of fibro or other inflammation!

Susan,
I was reading comments when I came across yours.It caught my attention because-as well as my interest in what we are putting in our mouths and calling food-I have long been on the edge of my seat in regards to what we put in our mouths and call MEDICINE. My hunch is that your dr prescribed you cymbalta. The simple truth about cymbalta is that its now being used as a pain med so that it can be kept in patent .Its initial use was as an anti-depressant.The patent for cymbalta as an antidepressant is set to expire-therefore big pharma stands to lose big bucks to generics. Then I started noticing that they were now advertising this drug as a treatment for “pain”. Light bulb moment. Now they get another 7 years to market this extremely expensive drug exclusively. Basically-they have re-badged the drug. The reason it probably worked as an antidepressant before was the fact that anything that has an opioid effect on the brain tends to make most people feel a slight euphoria, to be calmer (as we know the problem of big pharma products in the world of drug abuse and deaths has skyrocketed -ie anything “oxy”).
This almost makes me think that this drug was designed this way for the start- to be able to be re-labeled for the treatment of a different disorder.
I despise big Pharma- they are AMERICA”S CARTEL- and sanctioned by our own government.
I am glad you found resolution in something that doesn’t screw up your brain and your life. I have always been a minimalist when it comes to DRUGS- I am grateful Big Pharma can now advertise on TV-so that they are forced to list all the side effects of their poisons -my favorite side effect being “DEATH” (If this happens stop taking “XXX” immediately and call your doctor-YEA RIGHT!!!)

OK, what is bad about celluose . . .how will it hurt me . . .will I get sick, and what symptoms will I notice? If I can’t digest it, what does that do to my body? I need all the evidence before I can form an opinion.
Thanks

Had no idea how pervasive this practice is. The good news for me is that I rarely eat any of the processed foods listed. I was particularly surprised about Log Cabin and Aunt Jemima syrups – wow. On the rare occasions when I indulge in pancakes I will be using maple syrup. However, our children (American children) are consistently fed this garbage. Some parents will ignore anything you tell them about the harm this causes them and their offspring, but, I believe that most parents have no clue. We are trained to blindly accept that the agencies responsible for regulating such things are taking care of us. I often wonder how these people sleep at night. Education…isn’t that ALWAYS the answer?

Certainly not this article..They are misrepresenting cellulose (the compound in all plants that allow the plant to stand upright). The fact that they are processing it and putting into meat is wrong, but finding cellulose in plant products (fruit, veggies, grains, breads) is not manipulation; it’s science.

In related news, bottled water has been found to contain dihydrogen monoxide!
H2O.
Everybody relax. All plants have cellulose in them. It’s part of the cell wall. Sure, out of principle I’d rather get mine from oatmeal and lettuce than from processed wood, but cellulose won’t kill you or make you sick; you need it. It is part of every fiber supplement you’ve ever taken and every salad you’ve ever eaten – including the ones grown organically in your own garden. Refuse the wood-derived version if you wish, but don’t start worrying about cellulose poisoning.

Cellulose – Main structural polymer in plants (i.e. cell wall) and is several hundred to over ten thousand linked glucose units.

It’s in all plants. Wood fiber has cellulose in it, but is not entirely cellulose (only the cell wall). Fruits and vegetables have varying degrees of cellulose in them, due to their being plants, and we eat the heck out of them.

You seem to be more concerned about being inflammatory than properly informed.

Seriously this is the problem with the internet. People with absolutely no understanding of basic biology can post whatever they want. As others have already pointed out cellulose is a common component of all plant cell walls, we eat loads of it and always have throughout our history, all those fruits veggies and especially whole grains are going to have plenty of the stuff. It has many benefits in aiding in digestion and maintaining lean body mass.

Sure it would be better to eat only fruits and veggies that are local and organically grown, but to criticize companies for replacing sugars and fats with dietary fiber is completely ludicrous.

For those seeking to get reliable information I strongly to encourage you to use http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ it’s a huge database for peer reviewed scientific articles publish in respected journals. Much of it may be very technical as it’s meant for scientists but a basic understanding of the results should be comprehensible to the average person.

Gee Guys, can’t you read…No-one is against Fiber or Cellulose, and we know we eat plant fiber…We don’t want food manufactures adding wood fiber (cellulose) to our cheese and products that are not suppose to have cellulose in them, and mis-labeling it. We don’t need to understand the science, we to leave our food alone. Ok simple, not complicated science…simple. Happy Thanksgiving how they didn’t inject your Turkey with cellulose filler…Hee Hee Let’s keep the Wood Cellulose in our building supplies.

The stupidity in this article is amazing. First of all, the picture shown is construction grade methyl cellulose which is mixed with drywall. Food grade USP grade cellulose powder is pure white.

Second, if you want to avoid cellulose in your foods, then stay away from metamucil, high fiber foods, brocolli, yams, squash, and almost every single vegetable on the planet. Because they all have cellulose (more commonly referred to as “fiber”).

Would you be scared if I told you that every hamburger at mcdonalds was made with a chemical that is also used as an adhesive, asphalt, and plastic resin? What about if I told you that it was made with soybean protein? What if I told you they were the same thing? Turns out that a lot of the proteins nature provides us are not only highly nutritious, but have unique structural properties that make them useful in other industries.

Fear mongering like this article only serve to discredit the meaningful discussion of food safety (GMO’s, mechanically separated meats, etc).

Wow…There’s a call to more creativity for making things from scratch in the kitchen so we can avoid most of the things that are processed with cellulose, at least we wouldnt intentionally put it in our bread, salad, or stews…yikes!

I heard about this practice a while back, and my initial reaction was “Gross.” Then I thought about it, and really? It’s just not a big deal. It sucks that they can use a lot of filler and still jack the price, but these are already mostly the cheapest foods on the market. There’s enough crap in those processed foods to worry about. Cellulose isn’t hurting anyone, and it might help some people, though I know that’s not why companies choose to use them–that’s always down to the bottom line. They’re are also the foods that are pumped up with monosodium glutamate hidden under other names, but all that really does is make them delicious, and possibly make you fat because of it (unless you’re allergic). Anyway, MSG is beside the point here. The fact is, this is a somewhat incendiary, poorly supported article and I’d like to read something more scientific. There’s no discussion of dangers, of processes, or even of negatives aside from an insinuation of corporate greed, and yet it’s clearly written in a disparaging tone. It includes some misleading statements, as well, which has been pointed out numerous times. “How dare they feed us wood instead of food!” is a knee-jerk reaction, but it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

COMMENT SECTION SPECIFIC SIDEBAR:
I read so much back and forth in these comments, and was drawn in by the argument between gdledford and “Doc Blake.” I was just looking for a reason I might be upset about cellulose as filler, but I ended up coming down on gdledford’s side during their discourse, and felt like s/he wasn’t getting enough support. Even though “Doc” got the kudos, there are people who agree with you too gdledford. The arguments gdledford put forth were well thought out, and without quite as much baseless mocking. Don’t get me wrong, both of you got rude, and both of you sometimes spoke in absolutes, but gdledford’s statements were almost all topical, at least. You both got a little too personal for my taste, and you both got stuck in a fact-checking war with each other, a big comment board pitfall. More to the point: Blake, I can see why you were offended by the denial of your title, profession, and accusation of advertising, but you got too angry to keep your arguments and sources straight. I really wasn’t sure what an infant open-heart surgery minus anesthesia had to do with decrying mainstream medicine overall. Also, maybe you aren’t familiar with this internet “rule”, but when you have to draw Nazis into an unrelated message board argument, you automatically “lose” the argument. It’s such a common thing for people to invoke when expressing ideas to direct opposition that it effectively shuts down meaningful discourse (not to mention that it’s usually wildly uncalled for). I was reading what you had to say with interest until you became condescending, petulant, and certainly came off as obnoxious to me. Your reactionary tone not only undermined what you said, it also highlighted for me when you made false or exaggerated statements or weak arguments. There were quite a few, I believe. I won’t go into them, but I get the feeling you would relish it if I did, so we, too, can drag this on with no progress towards seeing each others’ point of view in the same manner. I don’t think anyone’s minds are being changed here, and you obviously have some fans here who appreciated your responses more than I could. I didn’t really mean for this response to turn into an internet etiquette lecture, or a bashing session, especially because I’m an uninvited third party, but I did get a bit riled when I saw that you had a bunch of encouragement, and gdledford didn’t have any directly. His/her arguments were good, but you couldn’t even concede when s/he was objectively right, either because you were too angry, too entrenched in your own beliefs, too disillusioned with mainstream medicine, or all three. I’m glad you believe in your work, I’m glad MDs believe in theirs. I don’t put a huge amount of faith into either one, and you’re right that your profession doesn’t get as many scientific opportunities (as in research grants and publications.) It’s not a fair fight, but I believe in proven results. Which has more of those? Mainstream medicine, they’re as close to the scientific method as they can be, and the body of knowledge and practices are ever-changing for the better. I might try an herbal remedy first (actually, I’ll probably just try to heal on my own before that), but when that doesn’t work (and when it does seem to work, it’s pretty hard to tell if I just healed on my own or if the homeopathic remedy helped), I’m going to an MD. There’s no reason I can’t use both, or that they have to be diametrically opposed. MDs aren’t just for emergencies, NDs aren’t just for frivolous ailments. How about that?

Thank you DSI. You’re right that I got too rude in some of my comments. It is less effective when you do that, but sometimes it just feels sooo much better, and I must confess to giving in to that feeling on occasion. There was some previous support for me as well, but it was deleted within a day (by whom I can’t say). And I didn’t invoke Godwin’s Law, but it certainly came to mind.

In truth though, I suspect that very few people read the comments. Most read the article and then maybe the first few comments, or they scroll down and read the last few comments, but the majority don’t read all the long, rambling comments we made. I congratulate you on the fortitude to make it through that flame fest!

DO NOT BE PUT OFF BY THE LENGTH OF THIS COMMENT IT IS JUICY READING
Doc Blake

you
I heard about this practice a while back, and my initial reaction was “Gross.” Then I thought about it, and really? It’s just not a big deal. It sucks that they can use a lot of filler and still jack the price, but these are already mostly the cheapest foods on the market. There’s enough crap in those processed foods to worry about. Cellulose isn’t hurting anyone, and it might help some people, though I know that’s not why companies choose to use them–that’s always down to the bottom line. They’re are also the foods that are pumped up with monosodium glutamate hidden under other names, but all that really does is ma ke them delicious, and possibly make you fat because of it (unless you’re allergic). Anyway, MSG is beside the point here. The fact is, this is a somewhat incendiary, poorly supported article and I’d like to read something more scientific. There’s no discussion of dangers, of processes, or even of negatives aside from an insinuation of corporate greed, and yet it’s clearly written in a disparaging tone. It includes some misleading statements, as well, which has been pointed out numerous times. “How dare they feed us wood instead of food!” is a knee-jerk reaction, but it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

me
You are off to a good start, your argument is as weak as what you accuse the article of being. “Give an inch take a mile,” seems to be the motto of these food companies and your kind of thinking is the root of the problem.

Hmm, so the Calvary showed up? This is interesting since a sweet and kind little bird just recently told me that some of my comments where drawing negative attention and to expect some flak and here you are.

You
I read so much back and forth in these comments, and was drawn in by the argument between gdledford and “Doc Blake.” I was just looking for a reason I might be upset about cellulose as filler, but I ended up coming down on gdledford’s side during their discourse, and felt like s/he wasn’t getting enough support. Even though “Doc” got the kudos, there are people who agree with you too gdledford. The arguments gdledford put forth were well thought out, and without quite as much baseless mocking. Don’t get me wrong, both of you got rude, and both of you sometimes spoke in absolutes, but gdledford’s statements were almost all topical, at least. You both got a little too personal for my taste, and you both got stuck in a fact-checking war with each other, a big comment board pitfall. More to the point: Blake, I can see why you were offended by the denial of your title, profession, and accusation of advertising, but you got too angry to keep your arguments and sources straight.

me
You thought I was angry, will I call it righteous indignation aimed at an overblown, over priced wind bag of a medical system that is due for some changes like living up to their fathers pledge of “due no harm.”

Whenever a doctor cannot do good, he must be kept from doing harm.
Hippocrates

you
I really wasn’t sure what an infant open-heart surgery minus anesthesia had to do with decrying mainstream medicine overall.

me
Maybe you need to re-read what I said about infants in surgery minus anything for pain, more carefully or maybe you are related to Dave? So let me see, you do not comprehend that there is something wrong with a medical institution that allowed operations on babies with nothing to relieve their pain. The Lawson baby had holes cut into his neck, another hole in his chest, his ribs pried apart and various other operation techniques performed while totally in pain and aware but paralyzed. The baby went through so much physical torment that he went into shock that night after the operation and died 5 weeks later. If you do not see something wrong with an elitist medical institution that would continue to operate on unknown numbers of infant’s like this decades after the technology was there to stop that pain then I petty you because you have no soul?

Normally I would stop communicating with someone like you right here, because I suspect that there is something missing inside you. But I am going to assume you made a mistake, kindly tell me you were mistaken?

Babies Don’t Feel Pain: A Century of Denial in Medicine,www.terrylarimore.com/BabiesAndPain.html
Blanton, M.G., “The Behavior of the human Infant in the First 30 Days of Life,” Psychological Review, vol. 24, no. 6 (1917): pp.456-483.

you
Also, maybe you aren’t familiar with this internet “rule”, but when you have to draw Nazis into an unrelated message board argument, you automatically “lose” the argument. It’s such a common thing for people to invoke when expressing ideas to direct opposition that it effectively shuts down meaningful discourse (not to mention that it’s usually wildly uncalled for).

Me
Internet rule about Nazis be dammed, when it quacks like a Nazi, waddles like a Nazi and looks like a Nazi, I call it a Nazi. Adolph Hitler himself would be proud to sit in on some of those meetings in Washington between the pharmaceutical companies and our government. You know those meetings by the revolving door where one day you work for Monsanto and the next day for the FDA. That is an excellent example of government in bed with business, sounds like fascism to me?

you
I was reading what you had to say with interest until you became condescending, petulant, and certainly came off as obnoxious to me. Your reactionary tone not only undermined what you said, it also highlighted for me when you made false or exaggerated statements or weak arguments. There were quite a few, I believe. I won’t go into them, but I get the feeling you would relish it if I did, so we, to o, can drag this on with no progress towards seeing each others’ point of view in the same manner.

you
I don’t think anyone’s minds are being changed here, and you obviously have some fans here who appreciated your responses more than I could. I didn’t really mean for this response to turn into an internet etiquette lecture, or a bashing session, especially because I’m an uninvited third party, but I did get a bit riled when I saw that you had a bunch of encouragement, and gdledford didn’t have any directly. His/her arguments were good, but you couldn’t even concede when s/he was objectively right, either because you were too angry, too entrenched in your own beliefs, too disillusioned with mainstream medicine, or all three.

me
Except for anger I am guilty on all points and I throw myself on the mercy of the third party court, I know you are riled but can you forgive me or am I banished? But seriously, wasn’t there even one teeny tiny time I said she/he was right, you think about it?

you
I’m glad you believe in your work, I’m glad MDs believe in theirs. I don’t put a huge amount of faith into either one, and you’re right that your profession doesn’t get as many scientific opport unities (as in research grants and publications.) It’s not a fair fight, but I believe in proven results. Which has more of those? Mainstream medicine, they’re as close to the scientific method as they can be, and the body of knowledge and practices are ever-changing for the better.

me
Oh yes proven results, lets see they have proven that they are the number one killer of human beings in the U.S.A. beating out both heart disease and cancer:

Adverse Drug Reactions, 106,000 deaths, Lazarou – Medical error, 98,000 deaths, IOM – Bedsores, 115,000 deaths, Xakellis – Infection, 88,000 deaths, Weinstein – Malnutrition, 108,800 deaths, Nurses Coalition – Outpatients, 199,000 deaths, Starfield – Unnecessary Procedures, 37,136, HCUP -Surgery-Related, 32,000, AHRQ – Total 783,936 deaths Death by “D Medicine” Null
Yes it is hardly a fair fight when the other side has all those doctor run government offices (see list below) to outlaw us for doing things like telling the truth in the land of “Free Speech.” And all there money, as long as they kowtow to the wishes of the pharmaceutical companies even at the cost of the lives and health of their patients. And let’s not leave out the news media since they now run so many commercials for their drugs. But isn’t it interesting that even with all that on their side they are still losing their standing with the public, like a Wizzard of Oz with feet of clay.

United States Department of Health and Human Services
Agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services:
Administration on Aging
Administration for Children and Families
Administration for Children, Youth and Families
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
National Center for Health Statistics
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Food and Drug Administration
Health Resources and Services Administration
Indian Health Service
National Institutes of Health
Substance Abuse and Health Mental Services Administration
Ref. A to Z list of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies

*Anyone see a need for some budget cutting above instead of cutting the social security to retired citizens (espically since the seniors paid for all of it, offices, social security and all)?

You
I might try an herbal remedy first (actually, I’ll probably just try to heal on my own before that), but when that doesn’t work (and when it does seem to work, it’s pretty hard to tell if I just healed on my own or if the homeopathic remedy helped), I’m going to an MD. There’s no reason I can’t use both, or that they have to be diametrically opposed. MDs aren’t just for emergencies, NDs aren’t just for frivolous ailments. How about that?

me
Wow, would you really try well, gee, gosh and golly please restrain yourself! But seriously, here you made some sense good for you, that is exactly what I encourage. Study your disease, look at all sides and make what you feel is the best decision. Now if this playing field was really level and freedom of speech was re-established you could actually call on a naturopath for some advice. One who wouldn’t be concerned that they would be put in prison for telling you that your health issue may be as simple as taking a B vitamin or a herbal combination, but that is some time off as the Nazi’s are still in charge, oops.

To all those people who feel I am being obnoxious, condescending and petulant here, I apologize to you.

Doc Blake

Ps. To Dave 🙂 My aren’t you the little apple polishing snitch and yes we know you are not Dave. You know Dave, when I was reading your little note to DSI I thought sure I heard a violin playing?

Not ripped off of any street, the list was in a file I have on this subject and when I copied and pasted I missed the reference below if this is what you are refering to.
Society’s Feeding Disorder: Food Additives and Our Health, November 9, 2011, Elise Miller, Med, the list of additives By Elson M. Haas, MD (excerpted from: Food Additives and Human Health)http://www.healthychild.com/…/food-additives-and-human-health

Hey you guys, I’ve been trying to grow my own vegetables in my backyard and I’m using all organic practices and everything, but everything I grow always ends up having cellulose in it! The greens, the carrots, the tomatoes, everything! Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong? Help!

Having worked in the food and beverage industry you’d be surprised how much food is actually wasted. From the grocer to the diner I’ve seen a HUGE amount of food wastage. Perhaps this has something to do with the strain on the food industry? Me thinks so. Providing food for consumption is one thing, proving food for people to waste is another.

Eat fish, fresh fruits and veggies and drink lots of water….stay away from sugar, white flour, white rice, white pasta, white bread & sodas. Take vitamin supplements and excercise. Red meat & chicken occasionally. Stay away from all processed foods (basically all the middle aisles in a grocery store). Keep dairy to a minimum. Don’t smoke. Get lots of sleep. Have your thyroid checked and get your digestive system on track with a good probiotic. Make sure your dental hygiene is up to date. You will lose weight, feel better, be healthy and live to 100. It’s not rocket science.

What are your sources for all this information? The only source your cite is yourself in the article you wrote for The Street? I’m not discounting it, but the class-action lawsuit you mention was withdrawn. This brief by the Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cellulose/MY01762) doesn’t say a word about cellulose being bad for us, just that it’s not naturally in the foods we eat.

I’m all for local buying, cooking and eating, when it’s affordable. To many it’s not. Fall, winter and spring kill our budget because my garden is barren and I have to count on the grocery stores. Many can’t afford to buy local or fresh as much as they’d like. With the poverty level rising, people buy what they can afford, even if it means having some additives thrown in.

It makes me sad because it’s part of a horrible cycle, but see why it happens. If Taco Bell serves 100% lean ground beef, a taco becomes out of reach, just like a pound of lean ground beef is for many.

Exactly, Mom Chef–many people simply can’t afford to eat all high quality foods. It’s just a fact of life, although I’m glad that it is easy enough to access info on how to do a better job of feeding ourselves. BTW–I like having a garden for fresh foods but I usually spend a little time freezing some of the fresh produce to supplement my diet in the winter. It’s pretty easy and doesn’t take a whole lot of time–definitely worth checking into!

Overall, I felt gdledford was better informed and more rational scientifically than Doc Blake. Anyone can claim a degree. And, as for physician training, the person graduating last in the class is called Doctor as will as the person graduating head of the class. Reading labels is a good idea, but as a chemist, I understand that reading these labels can be confusing. Plant cells have rigid walls; these are called cellulose. This forum should post information, not arguments. Those benefit no one.

You shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet. These products are fiber. Fiber is a class of polysaccharides that differ from starches due to the fact that the individual sugar units CANNOT be digested by human enzymes in the GI tract. So first off indigestible fiber or “cellulose” which is found in most plants if I might add, is not more dangerous than fiber you find in most vegetables. Understandable fiber can add girth to fecal matter and is actual good for your GI tract. Some insoluble fibers are prebiotics and actually boost the production of bacteria in the intestines further aiding in digestion. Also wood pulp is paper which is then put into a powdered gum. Gums are usually soluble in water which would just leave the what 3.5% of the fiber which then would do nothing more but possibly AID in digestion.

I’m not sure that people are actually arguing that wood pulp is particularly dangerous. I, for one, would prefer to eat the naturally occurring fiber in foods. I really don’t want to pay for wood in my food.

No dietary fiber is digestible; it creates bulk because it isn’t broken down. This quote is on the same linked page from which you quoted. “Dietary fiber is the component in food not broken down by digestive enzymes and secretions of the gastrointestinal tract. This fiber includes hemicelluloses, pectins, gums, mucilages, cellulose, (all carbohydrates) and lignin, the only non-carbohydrate component of dietary fiber.” I’m not keen on the wood additive and will pass along the info.

You DO realise cellulose isn’t really “wood pulp” right? I mean HOLY COW you want to research all that but not the cellulosse structure itself? Cellulose is the main structure in the cell wall of ALL greening plants! You eat it NATURALLY when you eat green beans, spinache, peas, etc. Of all plant products, 33% of it is going to be cellulose. Next time you want to complain about a safe filler, scream at yourself when you use flour to thicken your gravy.

McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC, I’m not surprised, but Weight Watchers… et tu? These are major food manufactuers, and I don’t think that the consumer doesn’t want to hold them accountable. Sometimes, it just feels like you don’t have enough time and energy to fight all the ills and injustices of cooperate America.

If you buy organic, and actually learn to grow and cook as much of your own food as possible, you can get away from a lot of this garbage, but no one’s completely immune.

Omg! This is crazy! For those of us who have trouble digesting food as it, now this!! I always said the McRibs tasted like cardboard, now I know why!! TG I don’t eat them!! But I know sum that do, lol. Ewwww!

Reason your way through this.
My what a superior tone you have to bad you couldn’t cut it yourself? Try watching two of the best who could cut it sort out the problem of HIV, can you face the truth when you see it? Watch these excellently produced videos The Emperor’s New Virus and tell me what you think, is there an HIV virus? If there isn’t then what disease are AIDs patients being treated for? An in-depth look at the scientific evidence surrounding the existence of HIV. Contains interviews with Dr. Gallo, Dr. Montagnier, Dr. Dauguet (electron microscopist) and doctors from the Perth Group.
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VIDEO: part one http://youtu.be/1Li9MO3RfCQ part 2 http://youtu.be/aZCMt4P1wnw

i find the nature of this article to be somewhat alarmist with out enough back-up. Yes Food Companies put too much crap in the foods they sell. That is nothing new, we have known this for years. I rarely buy anything in a can, box or bottle. Furthermore, I read the labels on everything I buy. If I don’t know what something is, I don’t buy it, i go home and look it up to inform myself. It would not surprise me in the least to learn that they are actually using wood fiber in our food, but I would like to see proof, before I would repeat it.

You would think that someone writing an article would learn about the topic before spewing ignorant stupidity. Every time someone eats a vegetable, they eat cellulose. Cellulose is a necessary part of the diet. Cellulose does not hurt you. Modified cellulose does not hurt you. We eat many things that can’t be digested. Some things that are not digested do have functions in the body. Cellulose is used for many reasons, mostly having to do with how great cellulose is as an ingredient. One could go on and on but unfortunately I do not have time to teach basic biology and basic nutrition to gullible people, particularly when they hold such emphatic opinions about things they clearly do not know anything about.

It’s horrible that the FDA approves basically everything that they know can be harmful in the long run for our bodies. And that’s just a couple what u see here. Check out Florideagenda21 on YouTube to see some other worse FDA approvals.

You would think that someone writing an article would learn about the topic before spewing ignorant stupidity. Every time someone eats a vegetable, they eat cellulose. Cellulose is a necessary part of the diet. Cellulose does not hurt you. We eat many things that can’t be digested. Some things that are not digested do have functions in the body. Cellulose is used for many reasons, mostly having to do with how great cellulose is as an ingredient. OMG. I do not have time to write a book for people who do not understand basic biology or basic nutrition. Do you believe everything you read on the internet? And do you think that just because you read something, that it must be true? If you read a text book, do you realize that you have to understand the material in order to know how to interpret it? OMG.

The ignorant paranoia on display here is extremely funny.

Too many people are gullible.

To the author: I hope you passed this article by your attorneys because, unless you have had them edit this in such a way as to avoid prosecution for brazen misrepresentation and defamation, I am willing to bet you can be sued. And you most certainly should be, because this article is the most distorted, fraudulent piece of crap I have ever read on the topic of “nutrition”.

I avoid processed foods as much as possible so it’s not a huge issue for me. My kids hate fast food which is inconvenient but I’m ok with it. If you cook homemade as much as possible, you only need to worry about the ingredients that YOU put into your food.

this guys an idiot, there is a lot of misinformation in this article. The pure cellulose added to food is identical to the cellulose in the fruits and vegetables we eat. Sawdust is cellulose, but it also includes lignins and many other aromatic chemicals. The cellulose added to food to improve properties is nearly 100% cellulose (fiber).

I actually worked on making “Methocel” for many years – it has hundreds of uses, including control-release drugs, tablet coatings, and food uses. A very small amount of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose acts as an oil barrier in batter, so fried foods contain much less grease. It is even used as a laxative (Citrucel). It has been proven to lower cholesterol. It is made from a renewable resource (tree farms).

Granted, eating fresh vegetables is the best source of fiber, but adding it to less healthy food (that people are going to eat anyway) is better than not, IMO.

Alison “Sunshine”
You’re harsh. Teach the world in a more compassionate, educated way, and the world will be better. Don’t think you’re better than any one person becuase you know more…we all have to keep learning, we never stop growing, we never know all.
I noticed in the past, that when i started eating healthier, my brain felt better. My emotional state was more balanced. I felt happier, more energetic and more righteous. And although my appetite seemed to increase, I still enjoyed the overall benifit. It is not easy or cheap to eat healthy all the time, but it is necessary, so we must find a way. If you have the time to travel, look into the WWOF program. Learn to farm organically, and world wide. We must be the change we want to see in the world. We must be compassionate, understanding, and motivated to be that.

I sooooooooooooo agree with Alison “Sunshine”
I looked up this subject and found on different sites the same. Cellulose is the major constituent of paper, paperboard, and card stock and of textiles made from cotton, linen, and other plant fibers.

Cellulose can be converted into cellophane, a thin transparent film, and into rayon, an important fiber that has been used for textiles since the beginning of the 20th century. Both cellophane and rayon are known as “regenerated cellulose fibers”; they are identical to cellulose in chemical structure and are usually made from dissolving pulp via viscose. A more recent and environmentally friendly method to produce rayon is the Lyocell process. Cellulose is the raw material in the manufacture of nitrocellulose (cellulose nitrate) which is used in smokeless gunpowder and as the base material for celluloid used for photographic and movie films until the mid 1930s.

Cellulose is used to make water-soluble adhesives and binders such as methyl cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose which are used in wallpaper paste. Microcrystalline cellulose (E460i) and powdered cellulose (E460ii) are used as inactive fillers in tablets[11] and as thickeners and stabilizers in processed foods. Cellulose powder is for example used in Kraft’s Parmesan cheese to prevent caking inside the tube.

Cellulose is used in the laboratory as the stationary phase for thin layer chromatography. Cellulose fibers are also used in liquid filtration, sometimes in combination with diatomaceous earth or other filtration media, to create a filter bed of inert material. Cellulose is further used to make hydrophilic and highly absorbent sponges.

Cellulose insulation made from recycled paper is becoming popular as an environmentally preferable material for building insulation. It can be treated with boric acid as a fire retardant.

Down this road madness lies. If I can’t trust fast food, I can’t trust grocery stores and if I can’t trust grocery stores, I can’t trust humanity and if I can’t trust humanity, then I can’t trust myself and then, then I may as well off myself and be done with it.

Grow my own food? I may as well go whole hog and disdain my house, my clothing, my car, my job, the money that jobs brings in, all forms of material wealth including personal possessions, relationships with others, and all manner of other things which are “destructive” to the human body. From reading this article the only TRUE way to be actually eat healthily is to not eat at all, since even if we cook it ourselves we are unable to honestly see what we’re eating. Yes, our food is poison to us. This is hardly surprising. But the choices are these: either eat your Big Mac and shut up, as many of you are wont to do, or go through life distrusting everything, EVERYTHING. Nothing is safe, nothing is sacred, there is nothing, nothing in this world that is free of taint or corruption. Suspect the motives of everyone and everything and never, EVER believe in any of it.

It’ll all come to the same end, anyway. Enjoy your “purity” and “health”, those of you who think you have it.